
Glass 

Book _ >.C '?.7 



SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT 



^ 1^1 



KJ 




U' \ili>irk 



MEMORIAL EULOGIES 



DKI.U KRF.Il rN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



UNITED STAPHS 
r.v 

SAMUEL S. COX, 

MEMllF, R FROM Oil In AM) NKW YORK. 
1861 — 1883. 



Grtiiiii divcrso 7-iii uiiii. 



\1 "^. 



2(tSA 



W Asm N G TON. 



/ 




'/I ( h III II I. J I iinlii.). 



STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS. 



July 9, 13(3L 



Mr. .Speakek: Ohio is not separated from Keiitueky, eitiu'r in 
the estimate of Judge DouGL.\s, whieli has been so eloquently jjro- 
noimccd l>y the distinguished statesman [Mr. Ciuttexdex] who has 
just taken his seat, or in the grief which has heen expressed for 
the prt'inature closing of his illustrious career. That career closed 
with theopeningof this eventful sununer. It abounded in friend- 
.ships, services, and and)itions. It ended while he was enjoying 
the tumult ofiuiiversal acclaim, and wlien all felt tlie need of its 
continuance. T>ai)or paused in its toil, bankers shut their offices 
and nu^rchants tlicir stores, lawyers and judges adjourned their 
courts, ministers added new fervor to |)rayer, partisans united iu 
hushed regret, and soldiers draped the flag in crape, to bear tiieir 
part in the great grief of the nation. He died in the midst of tiie 
people who had honorcil him for a generation ; in the city wliose 
growth hail been fostered by his vigilance ; in the State whose 
prairies were familiar to his eye from earliest manhood ; and iu that 
great Nortliwest, whose commercial, agricultural, physical, and im- 
perial greatness was the pride of his heart and tli2 type of his own 
cliaracter. There was in him a quick maturity ot growth, a fer- 

(3) 



4 M E :m < 1 1; I A r> A D n R E s s E s . 

tiKtv ul' rcsourtr, and a .-tul•^lillc■,s:^ oC cniTiiy, "liirli iiiailc liis life 
the niicrocosin of that {jrcat section witii whicii he was so cluscly 
identified. TIkiI mind wliicii had few ('(iiials, and ihat will wliirh 
liad no coiuincrdi-, sa\r in the grave, were at last wi'unii' I'nmi his 
irou frame. It is hard to l)elieve tliat he lies pnlsele-^s in his 
.sepuleiier at Cot tagc> (i rove. Tt is .sad to feel tiiat tiie sniamer 
wind wiiieh waves the grass and flowers of Ids loved ju-airies lia.s, 
in its h)W wail, an clegv to the departed statesman. Well might 
the waters of the lake, jnst hefore his d<'atli, as if |ininonitorv of 
.some great saeritice, .swell in niy.sterions emotion. Thi'se jtoor 
panegvries, from maiuiseript and memory, fail t<> express the loss 
whieh those feel who Unew him best. One wouhl wish for the 
elorpienec of Bos.snet, or the nuise of Spenser or Tennvson, to tell 
in the ])oetry of sorrow {\\v infinite woe wliieh wonld wreak itselt 
npon expression. l'^>r weeks the jmhlie have nionrned him a.s a lo.ss 
.so grievous a.s to be irrei)aral)le in this trying time of the Republic. 
The lap.se of time only adds to the weight of the bereavement. 
The tears whieh fell around his bedside and on his bier still 

W('p]> a I0S.S form cr now. 

AVith every jiassing day we turn, but turn in vain, to eateh his 
hopeful tone, his diseriniinating judgment, liis philosophic fore- 
.sight, and his courageous patriotism. Tiny only come to us in 
memorv and in mourning. His lips are sealed ; liis eye is dim ; 
his brain is shrouded ; his heart is still ; and the nation >tands 
with throbbing heart at his grave. "His virtue is treasured in 
our hearts; his death is our despair." It is no mere ceremonial, 
therefore, that the federal legislature, in who.se counsels he has 
taken so prominent a part, should ]iause, even in extraordinary 
session, to bestow that homage whieh friendshi]>, intelleet, and 
patriotism ever otti'r to the true man, the gifted soul, and the en- 
lightened statesman. 



STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS. 



Jiidtre Dou(4LAS struggled into greatness. He had no avenue to 
honor except that which was open to all. The power and ])atronage 
whicli aided him, hi' created ; and thewealtli which he made and spent 
.so I'reelv, came from no ancestral hand. Part teacher and part cal)i- 
net-maker, he left the East for the rnder collisions of border life. 
There he grew up under the adversities which strengthened him 
into a vigorous and early maturity. Ilis own manhood soon made 
itself felt. He became the political necessity of his State. He 
lillei] mauv of its most imjiortant offices before he became nation- 
allv known. The Democratic people of tlie Union were soon at- 
tracted to him. As eai'ly as 1848 they began to think of him as 
their can<lidate for ! 'resident ; while, in 1,S."):>, tlie Democratic Re- 
vic'w liaili'd liim as the coming man, — a man who had no grand- 
father or otlier incident of biographical pulTery ; as one wliose gen- 
ealogical tree had !)cen sawed up; as a graduate from tlie uni- 
versitv of the latJie ; as one with the materials, the nn'nd, and the 
energv to shape, fashion, and making enduring a ]>latfbrm tA' his 
o\\ n. 

No notice of Stki'IIEX a. DouciLAS is con)j)lete -whicli does not 
remark upon the lingular magnetism of ills personal presence, tlie 
talismanic touch ol' liis kindly hand, tlie gentle amenities of his 
domestic life, and the ineradicable clas|> of his friendships. It 
mav not be improper to refer to the fi<-t that I was one among the 
main- voiing men of tiie West who wi'i'e bound to him by a tie of 
friendship and a spell of enthusiasm wliich death has ikj power to 
break. These are the })earls beneatli the rough shell of his pcilit- 
ical life. There are many here who will understand me, when I 
recall the gentle tone and the cordial greeting with which he used to 
woo anil win and hold the young ])artisaiis of his faith, and the 
warm promoters of his success. Ever ready with his I'onnsc'l, his 
means, and his energies, lie led them as nuich by the persuasive- 
ness of his heart as the logic of his head. The same gentle de- 



6 3110 :M () IJ I A I. A D n R E S S E s . 

mcaiior wliidi linKllcd liis cliildi'cii and taiii;lit lliciii a lifauty of 

nianiicrs iH'vond all praise, the same ])iin' r('s| i and tciulcniess 

witli wliicli 111' treated lii- niilile wife and <'iiiii|)aiiiiiii, silvered the 
cords uf attaelinient wliieli hound his i'riends to him, and niaile liis 
home at ^yasllint!;ton and his sojourns elsewliere reedlleetiou.s as 
sweet as memory can endtalm. 

While others bear testimony to his uini'al heroism, inteneetual 
prowess, fixerlness uf priueijile, and niistaiued patriotism, it seems 
tliat his spirit, if it hovers over this seene of liis obsetjuies, would 
receive with purest deli^dii these tributes of friendly affection. 
I recall in my own experience, which runs with uniiroken asso- 
ciation of friendship with him from the first year of mv polit- 
ical life, many of his acts of unselfish devotion ; manv words out- 
spoken ti) the pulilie, which the mere design in<j ])oHtician would not 
have uttered; many tenders of aid and rvmnsel, which were the 
more grateful because unsought, and the more serviceable because 
they came from him. It is one of the felicities of my life that I 
have been the recipient of his kindness and confidence ; and that 
the people whom I represent were cherished by him, as he was by 
them, with the steadfastness of unalloyed (k'votion. 

It wiLS his pleasure \'ery often to sojourn in the capital cit\' of 
Ohio, where, reganlless of party, the people paid him the respect 
due to his character and services. Among tiie last of the associa- 
tions which he had with Ohio was his address, a few weeks before 
his death, to the [.cople at its capital, on the invitation of the State 
legislature. His stirring tones still thrill on tlu' air, protesting for 
the right and might of the Great West to egress through our rivers 
and highways to the sea against all hostile obstruction, and for the 
maintenance of the Government, threatened by the great revolution 
which yet surrounds us. His last utterance was tlii' tit <limax of a 
life devoted to the study of this Government, and of a ]iatriotism 
which never swerved from its love for the Tuion. It was worth 



STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS. 



whole battalions of armed men. A word from him made cahu from 
tempest, and resolved doubt into duty. His thought swayed the 
tides of publir opinion as vassals to his will. After his hot eon- 
tests in the Senate, during the first .session of the last Congress; 
after his Harper essay in development of his politieal theories; 
after his heroie campaign in the South, elosiug at Norfolk in his 
eourageous rcplv to the questions of the disunionists ; after his 
struo-o-les of last winter, when he strung his energies to the utmost 
in ])leadin^• for peace and eoneiliatiou ; after all had fiiiled, and .se- 
cession stalked with haughty head through the land, and even 
jeoparded this metropolis of the nation, it was the consummate glory 
of his life to have given his most emphatic utterance fir the main- 
tenance of the (iovernment, even though its administration was 
committed to hi- old political antagonist, and although he knew 
that such expressions imperiled the lives of a hundred thousand of 
his friends. 

Searcelv with any of our jiuljlicmcn <".m Douglas be compared. 
The peoj)le like to cnm])are him to .lackson, for his energy and lion- 
estv. He was like the great triumvirati — Clay, Webster, and 
Calhoun — but " like in ditference." Like them in his gift of polit- 
ieal foresiii'ht, still he had a power over the masses possessed by 
neither. Like Clav, in his charm to make and hold friends and to 
lead his party; like Webster, in the massive substance of liis 
thoU!i:lit, clothed in a[)t political wonls ; like Calhoun, in the tena- 
citv of his purpose and the siditlety of his dialectics; he yet sur- 
passed them all in the homely sense, the sturdy strength, and in- 
domitable persistence with which he wiehled the masses and elec- 
trified the Senate. 

In the onslaught of debate he was ever foremost; his crest high 
and his falchion keen. Whether his antagonists numbered two or 
ten, whether the whole of the Senate were against him, he could 
" take a raking fire at the whole group." Like the shrouded Junius, 



MEMORIAL A D 1) a E S S E S . 



he dared Commons, Lords, and King, to tliccncinuitrr ; \nit milikc 
tliat (cnililc sliaduw, he sought no craven eovert, but fouglit in (lie 
open lists, with a inuscular and iiicnial iiiijilil which ddicd tlic nn- 
roasouing cries of tiic nmh and mllcd liack the thunders nf tiic 
Executive anatlienia ! 

DoiKii-AS Mas no seiiohir, in the pcchuiticsiiisc ofthe term. His 
reading- was neither classical nur varied. Neitiier was he a sciolist. 
His researches were ever in tlie line uThis (hitv, hut therein tliev 
were tliorougli. His library was ne\-er clear from dust. His 
favorite volume was tlie book ofhunian nature, which he consulted 
without nuich regard to the binding. He was skilled in tiie con- 
tests of the bar; but he was more than a lawyer — lie easily separated 
the ruliliisji (if the law fnim its essence. As a jurist, his decisions 
were not essays; they liad in them sduietln'ng (lirixire, after the 
manner of tiie best English judges. As a legislator, liis pra<ti(al- 
ncss cut away the entanglements of theoretic learning and ancient 
precedent, and brought his mind into the presence of the thing to 
be done or undone. Hence he never criticised a wrong for which 
he did not provich' a remedy. He never discussed a question that 
he did not jiropose a measure. 

His style wius of tliat plain and tough fiber which needed no 
ornament. He had a ti'licity in the use of jiolitical language never 
equalled by any public man. He had tlie right word for tlie rigiit 
place. His interrogiitive metliod, and iiis ready and fit replies, 
gave dramatic vivacity to his debates. Hence tlu' ncwsj)apers 
readily copied them, and the ])eople retcntively remembered 
them. Gleams of liunicir were not infrc(inent in his speeciics, 
as ill his conversation. His logic had the reach of tiie rifled 
cannon, which annihilated while it silenced the batteries of his 
opponents. 

Douglas was a i)artisan; lint he never wure his partx- uiiii'orm 
when his <'ountry was in danger. His zeal, like all excess, may 



STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS. '• 



have hud its defect ; bat to him M'ho observes the symmetry imd 
mngnanimity of liis life, it will njiiicar that lie always strove to 
make his party conservative of his country. The tenacity with 
which he chiiiii' to his theory of territorial government, and the ex- 
tension of sutfrage, on hical questions, from State to Territory, and 
the ahsohite non-intervention l)y Congress for the sake of i>eaee and 
union, while it made liim enemies, increased the a<lmiratioii of his 
iricnds. His nature shines out with its loftiest grace and courage 
in his debates on tiiese themes, so nearly connected as he thought 
tliem witli the stability of the Rej)ublie. 

Tf it be tiiat every true man is him.-elf a cause, a country, or an 
a^■e•, if the lieight of a nation is the altitude of its best men, then, 
iudee<l, arc these eidarged liberalities, which ;ire now fixed as Amer- 
ican institutions, but the lengthened shadow of Stkimikx A. Doug- 
las. This is the cause — self-government in State and Territory — 
with which he would hive most to be identiticd in his country's 
liistorv. He was ready to follow it to any logical couchision, hav- 
inii- faith in it as a principle of re]iose, justice, and union. I'laced 
at the head of the 'i'erritorial ('ommittec, it was his hand which, 
on this basis, fashioned Territory alter Territory, and led State 
atter State into the Tuiou. The latest constellation, formed by 
California, Iowa, Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and I may add 
Kansas, received their charter to shine and revolve uudi'r his luind. 
These States, fiithfid to his fostering, will ever remain as monu- 
ments of his greatness ! 

His comprehensive forecast was exhibited in his speech on the 
Clavton and IJuIwer treaty, on the 4th of March, IS.");]; wherein 
he cidbrccd a continental policy suitable and honoi'aMc to the 
New World and its destiny, now so unhappily obscured, 'i'hat 
speech was rei;-arded by .Tudge Doi-(;LAs as among the most valu- 
able, as I think it the most tinished and cogent speech of his life. 
His phllipjiic against England, wliich to-day has its vindication in 



10 M E M O R I A L A D D It E S S E S ; 

her selti.-^li ciiiKliict towards us, will rciiiiml lliu sclmiar of Dunios- 
tlicues, while liis cnlarjicd pliih)S()phy has the sweep and di<rnity 
of Edmund Burke. It was tliis s|)i'('cli that jravc to Douglas tlic 
heart of yoiuijj ^V-inerica. He refused to prescribe limits to the 
area over whicli democratie principles mijiht safely spread. " I 
knoM- not wliat our destiny may be. But," he continued, '' I try 
to keej) up with the spirit of the age; to keep in view tiic history 
of tiie country; see what we have done, wliitiicr we are going, 
and with wliat velocity we are moving, in order to be prepared 
for those events which it is not in the power of man to thwart." 
He would not then see the limits of this giant Repul)lic fettered l)y 
treaty; neither would lie in 1861 see them curtailed by secession. 
If he were alive to-day, he would re|ieat with new emphasis his 
warning against Kiiglaiid ami hci' uiil'orgiving spite, \vounde(l 
j)ride, and selfish ])olicy. When, in IS 17, he advocated the poliev 
of terminating her joint occupation witii us of Oregon, he wa.s 
ready to back it by military force; and if war should result, "we 
might drive Great Britain and the last vestiges of royal authority 
from the continent of North America, and make the I'liited States 
an ocean-bound Republic ! " 

With ready tact and good sense he brought to the fiscal and eom- 
niercial problems of the country views suitable to this age of free 
interchange and scientific advancement. His position on the For- 
eign Affairs Committee of the Senate gave him a scope of view 
abroad, which w;is enri(^hed by European travel and iiistoric 
researcli, and which he evt'r used for the advancement of our flasr 
and honor among the nations. His knowledge of our domestic 
troubles, with their hidden rocks and horrid breakers, and the 
measures he ])roposed to remove them, sliow that he was a state.s- 
man of the highest raid<, tit for calm or storm. 

Some have lamented iiis death now as untimely and unfortunate 
for his own fame, since it has happened just at the moment when 



STKPIIENAKNOLDDOUGLAS. H 



tlie politician was lost in the patriot, and when he had a chance 
to atone for past error hy new devotion. jNIr. Speaker, men do 
not chanuje tlieir iiatnres so easily. Tlie Douglas of ISIJl was 
the Douglas of IS.ld, 1S.")4, and ISoS. Tiie patriot wiio de- 
nonnced this <;reat rel)cllion was the patriot in every fold and 
lineament of iiis character. There is not a jiage of his history 
that we can afford to hlot. The words wiiicli escaped iiiiii in tiie 
deliriniu of liis la>t days — when lie heard the "liattle afar off, the 
thunder of tlie captains, and the shoiitini;- " — were the key-note to 
a liarnionions life. ( )l)servant of the insidions processes North 
and South which have led us to tliis civil war, he ever strove, by 
adjustment, to avoid their disastrous etfcets. History will be 
false to her trust if she does not write that Stephen' A. Dou(iLAS 
was a patri(_)t of matchless purity, and a, statesman who, tbrc- 
secini;- and warning;, tried his utmost to avert the dangers which 
are now so hard to rciiress. Xor will she permit those wlio now 
])raisc his last great effort for the Union to ipialify it l)y sinister re- 
liectioiis upon his former conduct ; f )r thus tluy tarnish the luster 
of a life devoted, in peace and in war, to the preservation of tiie 
Union. His fune never had eelijisc. Its disk has ever been 
brii'-ht to the eve of historv. It sank below the horizon, like the 
sun of the Morea, full-orlted, and in the full blaze of its splciulor. 
How much we shall miss liim here! How can we, his associates, 
do without his counsel ? No longer docs the murnnir go round 
that Douglas is speaking in the Senate; no longer docs the 
House become cpiornndess to listen to his voice ! His death is 
like the dissolution of a political organism. Indeed, we could 
better afford to lose a sphere of stars from our flag; for these 
mio-ht wander to r.'turn. But Douglas cannot be bn.Hight back 
to us. He who had siicii a defiant power, with the "thews of 
Anakim and the pulses of a Titan's heart," has gone upon a 
retnrnless journey. How much shall we miss him nou: .' We 



12 :\i E M ( ) iM A L A D n u ]■; s s !■: s . 



have so loiifi; regarded tlie political, sucial, geographical, and com- 
iiurcial iRrossities to w liicli our (Tovcriimeiit was adapted' a.s ren- 
dering it eternal, that its present eoiidition calls for new and rare 
elements of statesmanship. Are we eipial to the time and the 
trust? Oh! for a ('lav, a Webster, a DoiciLAs. in this trreat 
ordeal of constitutional freedom ! AVhile the coiuitrv is entangled 
by these ser|)ents of revolution, we shall miss the giant — the Her- 
cules of the West — -Mliose limbs lia<l ^rown sinewv in stranirlinc 
the poisonous brood ! 

Who is left to take his place? Alas! he has no successor. 
His eclipse is painfully palpable, sine:- it midvcs more obscure the 
jiath by which our alienated brethren may return. Manv Union 
mill, friends of D()Uoi,As in the South, heard of his demise as the 
death knell of their loyal hope. Who, who can take bis place? 
The great meu of IS.")(), who were his mates in the Senate, arc 
gone, we trust, to that better Union above, where there are no dis- 
tracting counsels — all, all gone! AH? No! thank Heaven! 
Kentucky still spares to us one of kindred i)atriotism, fashioned 
in tliL' b'tta- m )ld of a'l e;irliiT d:iy — ;h- di-tinguishol statesman 
who has just spoken [Mr. Crittenden], whose praise of Douglas 
living I loved to quote, and whose praise of Douglas dead, to 
which we have just listeneil, "/dUfhiri d vim Iduddfn," is praise 
indeed, ("ritteiidcn still stands here lifting on higli his whitened 
head, like a I'liaros in the sea, to guide our storm-tos.sed and 
storm-tattered vessel to its haven of rest. His feet tread closelv 
upon the retreating stc])s of our statesmau of the West. In the 
order of nature, we cannot have him long. Already his hand is 
outstretched into the other world to grasp the hand of Douglas! 
While we have him, let us heed his warning, learn from Ids lips 
the lessons of moderation and loyalty of the elder davs, and do 
all and do it nobly tin- our beloved Ivepublic! 

In conclusion, sii-, wc can only wdrtliilv praise Stki'IIEN" A. 



STEPHEN ARNOLD D O XJ Ci LAS. 13 



Douglas by dointr something to carry out the will wJiicli lie Ic^ft 
liis chiUlren and his country : 

Love ;uiil iii>Ii(ilil tlio Coiistitiition ot'tlu' riiitod States. 

I speak it all reverently wln'ii I say that this was his relioidu. 
lie had faith iu that creed whicii believes in duty done in all the 
relations of this lifi'. 

I would not seek to disi'losc the future to which (!od lias con- 
siiiued him in the mysterious order of liis providcncr; liut such 
virtue as his cannot ilir. It begins to live most in death. Of it 
mav be said, as the laureate of England sang, that trans|ilaute(l 
inunan worth will bloom, to ]M-i)lit, olherwhere. The <listiu- 
niiishcil gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Crittenden] lias alluded 
to the fict that the mind of Doi'ca. as expanded with his |)iiblic 
service. It has been inv own humble observation tiiat he was 
one among the f'W public nu^n who grew iu moral height with 
mental breadth. Year alter year inspired him with more of rev- 
erence and chai'itv ; while his " ])salm ui' life "' found expression in 
dailv dutv done. He never shrank from the dust and heat of ac- 
tive liii'. He most desired to live wlien <laiigers were gathering 
thickest. He wotdd not ask from us to-day tears and plaints, but 
words which bear the s]iirit of great deeds, " tremendous and stu- 
jiendons" etlbrts to savi.' tlie Govcrinuent he loved so well. We 
may toll the slow bell f)r his noble spirit; we may ci-a]ie the arm 
in token of our woe; we may, while \\e think of the mi-anues.ses 
ofonr jMilitics and the distractions of our country, congratulate 
him that he is wrapped in his shroud, f irever safe in the memory 
of the just; but if we would worthily hon(U- him, let us modei'ate 
the heatsof party strife ; eidarge our view of national affurs; t^mu- 
late his clear-eyed patriotism, which saw no si'ction his coinitry, 
but loved all sections alike ; and hold up his lif', so fruitful in 



14 M E M O R I A L A 1) I) U E S S E S . 



wisdom beyond his years, for the admiration of tlic old ; and i)ic- 
liirc liim for the imitation of tlic yonng as that — 

Divinely gifted man 
Whose life ill low estate bejtan ; 
Who grasped the skirts of hai>i)y chance, 
Hreasted the l)lo\vs of eircuiustaiiee, 

And made liy force his merit known ; 
And lived to eliiteh the golden keys, 
To mold a mighty State's decrees, 

And shape the whisper of the throne; 
And moving np from high to higher, 

Becomes on fortune's crowning slope 

The pillar of a people's hope, 
The center of a world's desire! 

But, sir, no hmguage, citlicr in prose or verse, can portray the 
greatness of iiis loss. His fame is printed in the hearts of the 
people. From the Green Mountains of his native State to the 
wiiite lops (if the I'acifie Sierras, wliile tiie heavens hend almvcour 
land to hless it, the rivers roll and the mountains stand to unite it, 
or tiie ceaseless intcrchangi' of traffic and thought goes on by sea 
and rail, by telegraph or post — the people of America, from whose 
midst as a poor boy, by his own self-reliance he sprung, will pre- 
serve in the l*Miitiicon oftlicir hearts, to an immortal memory, tlie 
name of Stki'iikx Aitxoi.D Doutii.As. 



x-\ 




''>)'H>I.' 1 1 (''!■)( 



SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE, LL. D. 



April ]G, 1872. 



It is difficult, ladies and geiitlenieii, to be cul(_i,<;istic' and at the 
same time be just and discriniinating. To s])cak fairlv one must 
distiugnisli between tiio men wiio find ideas and found principles 
an<l those who adapt them to practical ends. 

There are original forces, uncreated by man, but discovered liv 
liis science, which man modifies into varied forms of beauty and 
utility. They are a source of w-onder and awe ; but to the ordinary 
niinil only sucii wlicn symbolized into forms and machines. Man 
clothes these forces with a vesture, made of rude material, like iron 
and wood, and they are most useful and beautiful when benign and 
civilizing. He who harnesses matter by the "invention "' is like 
iiim who does the fighting in war, when perhaps he never had an 
adequate idea of the real issues of the conflict. But still the fighter 
is the hero; the thinker nnist wait for some ''great hereafter." 
Your Xewtons and La Places in the celestial meehanisni ; your 
Aragos, Amperes, and Henrys in electro-magnetism, are not the 
temporary but the eternal heroes. The lesser but more useful 
intellect carries off the chaplet and sometimes the lucre. I would 
I'ather discover the law which rules the molecule than the law 
which adapts its f irce and gravity to a water-wheel or steam-engine. 

(15) 



IG M E JI O R I A L A Dl) K K S S E S . 

TIr' bi'uutil'iil and lutlik'ii i;oiiii wliicli ri^sulc in ii;itiiiv, lliesj)ritf.s of 
the river, tlie spirit of tlie vajjor and lij^litnins; — the inner forees — 
are almost idral ; lint tlic artnal iixcs in thr Idoni and sjiiiidlr, tlie 
mill-stone, tlir tlirasliinti-niaciiinc, and tiie leleirrapli ! 

Jac(juard, the inventor of tlie loom — the poet of matter — awoke 
one niornin<r with a maeliine (Hit of his dream. He only desired 
to make better tools for his trade. Levers, j)n]leys, sprinirs, and 
wheels m:idc mnsic t<i liiiii in his sleep. He made the loom which 
paints onr i;\liri<-s ut' sill<, and all liinnan natni-e, esjieeially woman 
natnre, recognizes him as its friend. lie had another dream — 
this Jaecpiard. His jxinetnred cards changed the labor of one- 
third of our race. He made by his genius a portrait or a land- 
scape on a shawl or ribbon; but his other and costly dream was a 
machine to make nets. He desired to catch tish, this simple apostle. 
I'^ir this he was arrested, and there was no huhcdx cdrpus for him. 
He was brought from Lyons to Paris. The powers were afraid he 
Monld go to mercenary England with liis invention. He was con- 
fronted witii Najjoleon and C'arnot. The great war ministerstartled 
him by screaming: "Are you the man, sir, who can do what (iod 
Almighty cannot, tie a knot in a sti'ctched string?" 

If such a simple invention could startle Carnot into sneh an ex- 
pression, what would he have said, then, if the invention of MoiiSE 
had Hashed across his mind ".' Ts there not a closer kinship between 
the supernatural and the tel(>graph than between the "stretched 
string" and the Almighty power? IVIagic jiretended to control 
sjjirits, to read the future, to provide talismans, to sway the will, to 
make men invulnerable, to raise tempests, to master the devil, to 
create an elixir, and to give ]ier|)etual youth. Yet even these fables 
are as froth beside the snltstantial magic of the telegra])h. 

Men like Napoleon and < 'arnot did not un<lerstaiid the Lyons 
wcavi'r. They were bent on other olijects. He was simply bent on 
his dream and its reali/ation. He wa.san illusti-ation of the Oriental 



SAMUBLF.B. MORSE, LL.D. 17 



wcii'il : " Hccamo to liisown, and his own received liini not." From 
the time of our Savior to the time ot'Cohimhus tiiis wonl lias been 
verified. But Moksk is au exception. He came with liis ^-rand 
tiiouijiit to liis own ; notwithstandingjeers and irony, liis own — Ids 
own nation — reeei\-ed iiimlvindly. It is the special lionorof'Ameriea 
that tliev first reeeised and enconraucd iiim in liis hour of trial. 
It reci'ived this marvel, only next to the realization of a spiritual 
ag-en(y — this wonderful and magical art — this other miracle of a new 
liospel — the instantaneous transnussiou of missives to the "afar" 
l)v the lightning. The world is full of these mysterious agencies, 
which outdo the nnracles of magic. A\'c do not know lint tliat the 
magnetic electric element is the viewless vinculmu between our 
bodies and souls. I am no materialist, but I wonder if this ele- 
ment be not the <'ord — iniinitcly finer than the silken gossamer 
on till' looms of the East — which binds spirit to matter. Miss 
Browning has said, and I give it fiir the young pe(.iple here to 

ponder, that — 

Leave two clocks 
Wdiiml 11]) te (lifffrent hours, upon one shelf, 
Aui] slowly, throuijh the interior wheels of each, 
The blind mechanic motion sets itself 
Athrob to feel out fur the mutual time. 

I have never tried this experiment, but tiiere is sometlnng strange, 
something magnetic in the tremulous exj)eriences of the lover, even 
if husl)and or wife, which are iu harmony with all law, and wliieh 
no law can sever — not even the divorce law of Indiana. I am the 
more persua<led of this by the philology of the French word mag- 
netism. It is the word aiiin'iifatioii ; from the word (ihiwr, to love. 
It is attraction — a loadstone — the mysterious power by which 
hearts, even at a distance, :nid In' missives, under oceans and over 
mountains, may commiuie and love. 

Not to the poetic fiuicy, or to the <i priori reasoner, do we owe 
the application of the mysterious agencies which sm-round and 
208 A 2 



18 MEMORIALADPRESSES. 

iiiHiuiicc lis. Wv owe it to siali jiractical iiieii as Sami r,L Y. B. 
MOESE. 

How best can t!ir Anicrican pcoiilc incmorizc his aciiievciiiciit? 
Xo friend of the great inventor will elaini that lie foniid the magnet, 
mueh k'ss tlie subtle element tliat jiei'vades it. No eandid man eau 
believe that tluMliseovorv of tlic magnet circuit or the e.xelusive 
origin of the tclegi'njiliic machine belongs to him. He never claimed 
it. Tiic truths of science, briefly narrated, will ilhr-trate his claim. 
It is enough to complete his fame, to .state some (jf the trutiis of hi.s 
gentle and laborious life. 

Mav 1 be permitted brieflv to reiiearse liis history, without injus- 
tice to his predecessors or contemporaries? 

FACT.S AliuLT I'ROFESSOH JIOIt.'^E. 

There was never a man who so took the world by the storm of 
contraries asS.VMi'EL Finley Breese Mor.se. His fame was his 
own rounded achievement. His greatness was not thrust upon him. 
It was not stumbled into liy lucky accident. It was the legitimate 
and necessary result of iiis grandly co-ordinated powers, working to 
sublime ends. It is the peculiar felicity of his memory that due 
and sufficient credit can be given to every one connected with his 
di.scovery witiiout detracting an iota from his own claims to great- 
ness. When A'^olta ex])erimeutally demonstrated that electricity 
was a result of ciiciuical action, and tile regular j)roduct of the forces 
ilimiiiatcd by decomposition, he not only made tlie electric tele- 
grajih possible, but lie revealed to tiie world tlie existence of a new 
principle and source of power, the tentli part of whose wonderful 
functions has not been discovered or utilized. 

it was ill the winter of ISlittiiat the great Oersted made liisdis- 
coverv of the regularitN' of the electrical currents and the atlinitv 
between the sj^ark elicited by the friction of amber and the current 
induced by the voltaic ])ile. .Vlniost immediately Schweigger was 



SAMUELF.B. MORSE, LL.D. 19 



fiialilcd t(i iiivriit the L^alvniiDmctcr, and Arago to (k'lnoiistratc the 
woiulei'fiil facts lA' mat;ii(.'tic iiKliictioii. 

Tliese were among the begiiiiiinyN in electric progress. Wliat 
mav in the future be tlie eonsumniatiou of sucli efforts?' lu the 
judgment of tliose who ivnow, wlioare scientists, electro-magnetism 
mav nc.it only lie used as a' motive pnwer, hut put to other uses 
which will again startle our race. 

The facultv of increasing to an unlimited degree tlie intensity of 
the magnet and the tension of tiie current, hy sim])ly ;idopting a 
horseshoe form for the soft iron of the magnet and wrajiping it about 
with an abundant coil of wire, was the next discovery made in 
electro-magnetism. It was the discovery of our own illu>trious 
TTcnrv. Tiiis done, the electro-magnetic telegraph became pos- 
sible; nav, probable; nav, necessary. The great electro-magnet 
made by Henry in 1S2S, and set U[) in the mnseura of Princeton 
College, still asserts its miraculous powers by dragging a great mass 
of fiftv-sixes, such as no magnets are called upon to lii't in tiiese de- 
generate days. 

It was now that Ampere and Faraday came in, and, discover- 
ing a new branch of science, showed how the magnetic needle could 
be made to oscillate east and west in a regular and determinate fash- 
ion, to record, repeat, and perpetuate its vibrations at the dictation 
of the same coil whii-h Henry had shown t<i be so powerful. Like 
the elephant's proboscis, it could draw a cork and pick u[t a pin with 
the same ease and grace that it could lift a ton. 

Imme<liately, almost simidtaneously, and out of the very necessi- 
tie-. of scientific ])rogress, we have a do/.(.'n, a huudreil, telegrajihic 
suggestions. 

It detracts nothing from ]\I()l!Si-:'s merits — it adds very largely 
to his claims to real greatness — that he was not strictly a man of 
science, but ii man ot' art. He went from the field of practice into 
the field of speculation, and aceomjilished more by his gleaning 



20 M E M tl R I A L A D 1) B E S S E S . 

tli:m tlir wliolc tremendous aiTnyof" renpers liad luiiiiil tliere. He 
■\v:is a mail aceiislDincd tn deal |icciiliarly with results; Cor tlie tools 
and materials (if the artist are all of them the results ol' applied iu- 
telliji'i'uee and the |)r(>diiets of human manui'aeture. 

It is, of course, hyperbolical to say that if electrics tclcjiraphy had 
not hcon already invented, MoiisE would have certainly discovered 
it; l)ii( it is sui'e that if this career had not ojieneil liefore him he 
woidd have won eminence in some other career e(pially great, even 
if not equally conspicuous. 

It is curious to notice how often this power and possibility to iu- 
stantaneonsly transmit intelligence had been the subject of debate 
and e\]ieriment before the idea of it crossed Moitsio's practical 
brain. \\'e have instances that extend through the long course of 
two centuries, in respect to electric systems alone. As for other 
sorts of experimenting in telegra|tliy their name is legion, and their 
eiuuneration tediousness. 

In electric telegra])liy we have the attempts of Stra<la, in KUT, 
which are almost contemiioi'ary with the great and initial treatise of 
William (iilbert de Magnete, and long before the experiment of Ca- 
boeus and Boyle, and the discoveries of Otto Guericlie. 

If you nuist take Oersted, Ampere, Henry, and Faraday into the 
account of Mohse, we must go further. We must not reject or neg- 
lect either Gilbert or Newton, Boyle or Ilawksbce, Grey or De- 
saguliers, Xollet or Moiuiier, oi' I'^-aiddin. 

Scilor Salva Imilt a telegraph in 17HS, from Madrid to Aranjuez, 
twenty-six luiles, which enabled messages to be sent by the means 
of frictional electricity. 

Unlike almost every other discovery of science, the eU'ctric tele- 
graph was developed in ad\anee of the method- necessary to perfect 
it. Hence the ina<le([uacy of its earlier methods and later materials. 
In this respect oiirgreat MoitsK was like Kepler, lie invented his 
methods before he was sufliciciitlv informed tobcable to rationalize 



SAMUELF.B. MORSE, LL.D. 21 

his laws. His genius transcended his slcill. His single brain com- 
passed more than his studies had enabled liini to derive from all the 
world that had lived Ijefore him. 

Bain's electro-ehemical telegra[)h is vastly more original, vastly 
more ingenidus than Moitsi-;'s. But Mohsk lias succeedeil and Bain 
lias not succeeded. The practical world lias pmnoiiiiced in Morse's 
favor; in fact, has dogmatically declared tiiat it \vill liave Morse's 
system and iKine other. You may like Wheatstoue's best, or Yail's, 
or Bain's, but tlie world, which pays the cost of telegraphy, chooses 
to iiave ^Morse's. The Morse system, if we are not misinformed, 
enables its operators to transmit one thousand words while the Bain, 
tiie House, and tiie other systems give facilities for only about two 
hundred. Consequently, Morse's plan is at least five times as 
profitable to the companies as other plans. 

Tiie simplest filets of science are the confusion of wrmder and the 
siianie of tlie seareiiers Ibr prodigies. When Puck amiouiieed tliat 
he would |)iit a girdle about tiie earth in forty minutes, how could 
lie have imagined tliat Morse would come after him, and would 
develoii a system by means f)f wiiich a man mav send a messaoe 
to-day to Hong-Kong or Yokoiiama, whieli, after traveling thirty 
thousand miles, ami Ijeing translated into a dozen languages, would 
reach its (U'stinatiou ycHfcnJdji morning, wliile he was still enjoy- 
ing his niorning slumbers, and liefore lie lia<l even dreamed of the 
necessity that would presently devolve uj)i>n him of altering the 
currents of electricity and intelligence that How through the .Straits 
of Malacca, and rousing from sleep the (piiet oysters of Cliitta- 
gong. 

These facts and conclusions, iiastily collected, show that tiie man 
wliose genius we celebrate deserves all that America, or the world 
outside of our hemisphere, has done to honor his memory. He has 
accomplished more than Franklin to realize the sulilime verse: 
Eriiniitco'Io I'lihiii'ii, soeplnim (jiie tyrannis. 



22 :m i". M < > i: 1 A T, A D n im: S S E s . 

He gave tn the uiii\<Tsal people tlie means cif speedy and accurate 
intcllifience, and so stormed at once the terrible castles of Giant 
^ Doubt and (Jiant Despair. Ho has saved time, shortened the hours 

of toil,aeeuniulated and intensilied tliought l)y the rajiidity and terse- 
ness of the electric messages. He has celebrated treaties, lie niai<es 
war; fiir nii lialtle can l)e fiiutilit witliout Ills instant aid. (><i tutiie 
uttermost parts ol'tlic eartii ; Ljobeneatii the deep, deep sea; to the 
land where snows are eternal, or to the tropical realms, where the 
orange blooms in the air of midwinter, and you will find this click- 
ing, persistent, sleepless instrument ready to give its tireless wing 
to your purpose. 

In a volume which T have read on the TeUgraphie £ledriijue,hy 
Moigno, T find a splendid dedication to the great Arago. While it 
honors the names of Yolta, Oersted, Amph-e, and Faraday, and 
makes Arago the first to give certain efi'ect to ihc "aimciitdlinn 
momentanee" it fails to note the name of IMoiisE. But since then 
the Krench, more generous than the English, have led the world to 
honor him, whoscs]>ecial honor to us is that we have the grace and 
thoughtfnhiess to lionor him. 

We honor him not alone for his aehievenient in mechanism, but tor 
his beautiful and unselfish life. 1 hold in my hand aletter from Mr. 
A. G. A^ermilye, of Xew York, to Dr. Prime, of the Observer, 
•which shows that when the $80,000 was voted him by foreign powers 
he refused it, until persuaded by his friends that it was an honorary 
testimonial. He did not care nor expect to be rich. He only wore 
the badges and diamonds with which, as he was wont to say, he 
was decorated in deference to cu.stom; for he was a simple man, of 
true -\merieaii mold. 

lam proud to say that the heart of this man was as big as his mind. 
He gave much more in proportion than he received. His charities 
had no limit outside of his means, and sometimes were not even re- 
stricted there. All who knew him loved him. Those who knew 



SAMUEL F . 15 . :M O R S K , L L . D . 



23 



li: 
an 



liiin best, not only lionored liim most, but loved liim best. Our 
ilTcat Allston was liis proccptoi- in art, hut his dehtorin frien<lslii[). 
Leslie looked up to iiim, lioimrcd, lovc'd him. He was not soured 
hy disapiioiutment, nor ditl he lose his geniid spirit nor his lihcivil 
and hy the foree of detraction or long waiting. He brought the 
lenities with which art had acipiainted him into the severe field 
of science, and, even when old, gray, and solicited by the strongest 
teiiijifations that ever assailed a man, lii' refused to forget and ignore 
tiie principles lie had learned to love. Whether in early lii'e, paint- 
incr, perhaps, for a living; or modeling a statue in England, under 
the eve of Allston ; or plying his magnetic experiments in the Tni- 
versity Iniilding at New York; or testing the daguerreotype; or 
supervising a Suudav-sehool in Paris; or contesting the ]>ritish and 
otiier claimants to his invention; or asking a reluctant Congress for 
aid; or, at last, unveiling the statue of Franklin in rrinting-House 
y,jUii,.o — ill whatever sphere, under all skies and in all moods, he 
was a i)eerless man. In ])resence, he is comparable with our ideal 
of the patriarchal days ; in character, as ])ureas the unspotted snows 
of the north ; and in all aims, scientific, social, and Christian, as 
loftv as his faith in truth was resolute and devoted. 

True, he was surrounded in life by anxieties an<l trials. Tl 

clouds of obscurity and adversity were about him, year after year, 

w hile he struggled ; but he signally illustrated the verse of Festus : 

Tlic fldiKls whicli liiili- the mental nionntains, 

Ixising inglust beaveii are full of tiiiest liglitiiiif;. 

Now that he has gone above the clouds and mountains of earth ; 
now that his spirit, perhaps, by intuitions as instant as his electric 
current, conininnes witii the angels and l)eingsof another sphere — 
those fleet messengers of the Almighty — may not the imagination 
be allowed to picture his reception in the Eternal City ! ^lay we 
not believe tliat, for one who has done so much to bind the earth in 
unitv, there was new occasion on hisadvent for the choral welcome: 
Peace on earth, Ki'oil " "l t" ""'" • 



lie 



MIL SPEAKER MICHAEL C. KERR. 



Dkcembeu 16, 1870. 



IMr. Si'EAKKK : The Representatives of tliirty-seveii iiKlepeiul- 
cnt States this day pause in tiieir (lelil)eraticins for tiie welfare of 
forty-five millions of people to offer to the memory of a great and 
good man the solemn anguish of a nation fur its loss, and their 
sympathy with a family and constitueiiey in tiieir ln'reavement. 

The lapse of time which heals up the green and bleeding 
wounds of sorrow, and which makes too often ceremonies like this 
the mere mockery of woe, has had no halm save that which ]ire- 
serves the recollection of our friend, no ilew of refreshing save the 
sweet dew of his memory. 

It is eminently litting that this House should place upon tiic 
tomb of its late presiding officer, and tiie third otliccr of the (iov- 
ernment, a civic crown ! 

The catalogue of .\merican lie])resentativcs is a catalogue of 
mortality. Our jjolitical system has in it much of popular caprice, 
and more of ])rovidential vicissitude. ( )f tiiose tiiat were here 
when T first entered tiiis Hall but four or five remain. As T look 
about this Hall T perceive one anil only one of my Ohio colleagues 
[Mr. W. S. Groesbeck] who was a member of the Thirty-fifth 
(a4) 



\ 




\' 



a II 1 1 lid ( l I . 'Ji c'i'i / 



SPEAKER 3IICHAEL C. KERR. 



Congress ; and he will share my thought and feeling. The first 
death which we were called upon to mourn M^as that of a beloved 
Southern statesman and soldici-, Jolin A. (Quitman. .Subseriuently 
and how frc((uently have others fallen! 

I feel almost isolated, standing between the nianv dead, mIio 
were friends, and the living who in a few years will be numbered 
with tiie dead; but in all these chances and changes of time it has 
been my lot to cheer and not to sadden. In the home and amonti- 
kindred for two generatidns it was not for me to weep, but to dry 
the tear of others. When the great moan went up tliat Poii'das 
was indeed dead, and in that solemn hour for the conntrv, I came 
forth to the stricken men who surrounded my Ohio home to hear 
the last telegraph — not to mourn but to comfort tiiem with hope. 
In the dark hour when the country was lillcd with liattle-cries and 
blood, I lifted on liigh not the wail of .Icremiah, but the jov of 
Isaiah, in the hope that soon the waste places would be bnih up 
and the old l^af and bloom return with the sprino;. J tried to 
bring good tidings, to liind up the iirokcn-hearted ; and to tliem 
that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beaiitv for ashes, the oil of 
j(y for mourning, and tiie garment of ])raise for tiie spirit of 
heaviness. 

On another and recent occasion, and as the shadows gathered 
over the Roekl)ridge JMonntains, it was my jilace to give what of 
condbrt I could, by fringing tlie cloud with golden hope to the 
stricken, lint on tliis occasion it is my privilege and mv iutim'te 
relief to mourn as one who has not merely lost a friend, but as a 
citizen who has lost a c<inijiatriot, and, as a Kepresentatix'c, to de- 
])]ore a brotlier who in this dire trial of our institutions is not 
with us to guide. 

It may not be out of place here to say that, iji spite of marked 
contrasts of character, I shared with Mr. Keim: manv of the bur- 
dens, studies, and sympathies of life. It was a sad j>leasure to 



L'fi M E M O RIAL A D D 1! I', S S E S . 



stand with liim at the hist, on tlie shore of that vast ocean wliich he 
knew that liejnnst sail so soon. IJacivcd with more tiian mortal 
anguish in his last sickness ; harassed w ith a false aeeusation which 
/ -J toiielied the vei'v heai't and marrow of his character; his liody 
shrinking ami shrinking to the very imagery of death the skeleton; 
yet his spirit was as calm as a still, sweet morning, ;».s it rises above 
yonder azure mountains where he died, and his will as firm as their 
roeky base. Unappalled by the terrors of the unknown world, 
he passed away out of the l)eantiful valley where he sojourned 
into the vallcv of the shadow. Naught remained Imt the mere 
phantom of a body. This was borne to his hom<' in Imliana. 
The theme over his remains was well chosen : "A good name is 
rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving flivor rather than 
silver and gold." Until the last flower liided from the earth 
around his home, loving crowds tlironge<l to the <'emeterv, and 
every Sabbath his friends and constituents mtide their pilgi'images 
to lay, with their sympathy, immortelles upon his grave. 

He died at the Alum Springs, ^yest Virginia. It is an old re- 
sort, an intervale of beauty, ix charming little park sweetly em- 
bo.somed in the Blue Ridge ; a lonely spot, with now and then a 
habitation, but with a bracing air, a splendid forest, an<l grand 
mountains. There is a primeval (piietnde there, almost a sunnner- 
af^ernoon feeling, as if the lotus-eaters of Tennyson had made it 
a resort aloof from the cries of people that do come and go. 
The only noise is that of nuirmnring waters. It was amid the.se 
s(jlcmu silences that his last weeks and hours were passed. It was 
ami<l those remote and jjleasant nooks of nature that (iod UTdoosed 
his weary star. His was no sudden call. All |>reparations ]H)ssi- 
ble, secular and spiritual, were made by his ow n diri'ction. The 
silver eord was not cut hurriedly, nor the golden bowl broken in 
an instant. No holocaust of fire snapped his lii(''s eord suddenly. 
The cord was geutiv untied ; the golden bowl melted awa\' as if it 



S r E A K E B 51 1 C H A E L C . K E R R . 27 



were a scarf of vapory amethyst, or rather as the liglit fades away 
from tlie firmament at tlie coming on of evening- mikl. Just as 
till' sun went down, liis >|>irit ]>eac('fully drparteil. T]w prarl 
dropped from its wasted shell as the sun passed lieliind the uk.u- ;,•- 
ain. There lie lay in the lap of a lovelier nature, liy stiller 
streams and fairer meadows than we are wont to fancv in some 
blest Aready ; but wiien death came it seemed to make the beauty 
of the mountains as barren as the desert ; the tlowers, leafage, 
nx'ks iiikI iiills lost tlioii- rlijiriii, the hree/e its frcsliiiess, the sono- 
of liirds its music, and the sweet shine of the sun was all jovless. 

Ijut in till' iiKiuiitaiiis did lie fcid his faith. 
All thinuM resiioiisive to tlio writing; tlicre 
Hrcatlipd iiiiiiKirtatity, ic!volviii<; life, 
And firratiU'SS still ri'volvinij — infiniti'. 
There littU'iiess was not; the least of things 
Seemed infinite. 

What was that faith'.' I could not speak truly and sav it was 
the accepted duginas of any eliureh. He could no more be a mvs- 
tygogue than a deiiiagogne. It he could not aeeept all that was 
written about the Savior, lie fully sanctioned and trulv lived iiji to 
tlie code of morals which Christ gave. He believed an honest 
man to be the best ('hristian. His plan of life was to get all the 
knowledge he could, ami use it in doino- all the good he rould. 

Though his life may have seemed to some reserved, yet his aus- 
terity was but the visor wliich concealed generosity, tenderness, 
and trustfulness. He sympathized with all men, and onlv repelled 
those who were exacting and dishonest. His faith was in honest 
work; it was this that made his home a sacred spot, refined and 
beautiful, ennobled by delightful intimar'ies and old-fashioned hos- 
[litality. It is not a new standard by which he regulated his life. 
Lubonin c.'<t ordrc, is as old as the fathers ot the church. That he 
made integrity his religion, work his orison, and truth his idohitrv. 



28 M E M () IM A I, A n D R E S S E S . 



is (Piilv repeating tlic writdii words of tlic wise and ^-ood ol' all 
ages. lie wrought 

With liiniKiii Ii.hkIs, the creed of creeds 
In I()\ rliiii'ss of in-riect deeds. 

To lie kind to the widow and fatlierlcss was one o(" liis canons; 
and this man nevor in ids profession would receive a reward for 
serving them ! To l)e faithful to his puhlic trust ; and this man 
no more flinched from uttering unpopular than worthy thoughts. 
Pericles in his last illness said: "No Athenian in consequence of 
anv action of mine had excr put on mourning." Mr. Keru could- 
truthfully say the same in a better sense. 

When I went at his request to Virginia and to his iicdsidc, and 
after delivering the messages from his friends here, 1 asked him 
if he were ready to meet the unseen world. \\'itli a glance of gen- 
tleness, and a ]ircssure of niv hand, hi' declared that he was ready. 
We talked of the mysterious realm. His faith wasahiding that in 
that future there was reward for a just life here. As he said, half 
playfully, he stood u]ioti his record. 

It was this pious probity which he impressed upon his pc(i|ile, 
upon Ciingress, upon his own lite, and upon his son. It had its 
source in the heart as well as the head. This is especially observ- 
able in the care which he gave to his son's tuition, even to the last 
honrs of his lift'. He seldom left his house on his return from 
his office. As has been so well said by his colleague [.Mr. Ham- 
ilton], who offered these resolutions, he scarcely mingled with the 
ma.sses of the people, even his own constituents, but with kind 
cheerfulness was wont to retire to his home and lii)rary. There he 
studied his favorite authors, examined his son in the studies of the 
dav, and filled iij) each hour with some useful thought or exercise. 
The speech of Plato to the Athenians he expressed in his life : " For 
the glorv of j)arents is an excellent and an houoralile treasure to 
their children, making up for the lack of pos.se.ssions aM<l dignities 



, " 



^yii 



S r E A K ]■: K M I C II A E L C . K E R R . 20 



" Dos est magna parenfium virhis." (Hor. Od., xxiv, lib. 3.) Miiy 
I nut road tlie record of his last a<lvi<-(' to liis son to illustrate the 
paternal eai'e and gentle worth oCthis our liest rei>res(Mitati\-e man '.' 

A fi'w ilays l)cfi)iv liisilfntli Mr. Kei;i; li.'id a con versa! ion witli liis sou, in the 
course, of which he said : " I have nothiii}; to leave yon, my son, excei)t my 
good name. Gnard it and your mother's honor, and live as I liave lived."' 
He fiirtlier said: "Pay all my debts, if my estate will warrant it without 
leaving yonr motlier penniless. Otherwise pay what yon can, and then go to 
my creditors and tell them the trutli, anil pledge your honor to wipe out the 
iiidehtedne.ss." 

The sotiree of this nitm's power was not altogether ititellectual ; 
it was in the affections. What a void has liet'ii made in his western 
liotne I 

Who can tell the angtiish of the liereavedl ICven the delights 
of the old home in the West intensilied it. "She was at home," 
writes the liereaved son of the widowed nidther, "atiiottg friends; 
but she could not feel at h(jme, for he was not there. Evcrvtiiino' 
.suggested father to her. Something would requicketi her sorrow. 
The finding of an old letter, the half-read hook with the mark of 
leavittg ofl, and all those thousand ever-recttrring, itieotisiderahle 
reminders that kec^p the heart of sorrow |>aiiit'tilly darketied hv the 
shadow of hitn who has gone; these things lengtheticd out and in- 
tensified the grief till the litirdeti lieeanic too haril to licar." l""or 
such human agony there is no compensation iti the iioinirs and 
])ret(_'rments of (nirlite. The current of domestic hliss which once 
flowed so calmlv, reflecting the verv heavens on its mirrored bosom, 
when thus overshadowed — where is the ade(]iiate r(.'turn in the 
plaudits and honors of men? To wait and wish, and to hear no 
step, no voice of hirsband and hither ; tlie olden aid, which directed, 
sti[)ported, and cumfbrted, gone, — gone; no advent to glorify the 
gloom — this is to the overworn and wearied catcher what mere 
mechanism of tongue or pen cannot express. Ex[)ression only be- 



7 



30 JI E :\[ o i; I A I. A D D U K S S K s . 



iiiimhs tlio soul of siich trriof* ns tho.'^o. Our tears freeze at the 
fountain, our syni])atiii('s dif in the attoiui)t to (■xj)res.s them. 

History and oratory liave been spent in liaranfiuinf]^ about the 
heroes of war. Military <j('nius ami renown hayc been themes of 
enciiniinni tn (luickcn pafriolisni ai}(l cnik'nr priyatc virtues. In the 
funeral orations over the dead Greeks wIkj fell in tight, Mars alone 
reeeived apotiieosis. We liave orations by Pericles, Lysias, and 
Plato preserved in the crystal beauty of Thucydides. .Vll tlu' 
muses and graces do obeisance to the solemn rapture ol' the elo- 
i|iu'nt hour when in <i'raceful periods and ini]ici'ishablc huiguage 
the orator came i'ortli from the monument, ascended the tribunal, 
and, with panegyric beyond the reach of modern art, displayed the 
virtues of the dead. 13ut these etdogies were in praise only of 
martial glory. Only once do I recall the words of an inspired 
Greek, tbrgetting for a moment the custom of the time, admonish- 
ing the people " that tiie whole earth was the sepuleiier of I'enowned 
men," whether renowned for honorable exertion in war or [)eace. 
It is the old vaunting storv of the Biijle even : " Saul has slain 
his thousands, but David his tens of thousands." The helmet, 
the j)lume, the sjiear, the sword, the onset — these are the theme,s 
of classic funei'al elo(pienee. Men arc prone to forget what has 
been done by the gifted and great wlio.se as.sociations were those of 
art, literature, benevolence, and science. AVc seldom remend)er 
long those whose lives were roiuided with the humility of good 
deeds and gentle affections. Men rear monuments and arches to 
the captains of armies, rarely to the leaders of opinion. I'\'w 
mounds of green turf remain to recall the great thoughts which 
lived in the heroic lives of such men as Plato, Newton, Saint 
Xavier, Howard, or Cobden. ]\I<inumcnts to military men over- 
shadow these little hillocks on whose l)reast tears iail and over 
whose dust blossoms cluster. Rome has hci- arch to Titus, her 



colunui offrajan. The grave of Agamemnon has been t'ound and 



SPEAKER 31 ICnAELC. KERR. 31 



glorified Ijv a German scliolar ; and the exhumed Atridte are more 
h(in()re(i liy emperors and kings than the l>lind hard wiio snni;- 
tlicir |(raisc8 aidiii;' tlie ^-Egean. 

Jjiit, tiianks to a better civilization, (n-en the sneeessful o-eneral 
to-day must have something more tlian tiie brnte instinct which 
led J'elissier to smoke the Kabyles in their caves. He nnist iiave 
mure than tlii> engineering skill of Toi]iei)en and \"i)n Moltke. 
He must have that knowledge of hninan nature liv wliieli to rule 
m<'n, not merely in the ranks, but in the senate, in the forum, and 
among the masses. He must be, as was said of Wellington, some- 
thing more than a commissary or clerk. He nuist minister to 
l>ea<'e(id states; he nuist tiiink like liglitning, and strike with its 
vehemence and tiitality for trani|uil homes and hinnan happiness 
in great crises ; lie nuist have the gentle amenities of culture along 
with the heart of the hero. Above all, he must have inwoven like 
threads of light the patriotie devotion which sees in his countrv's 
flag a symbol of order and unit\- and in his coinitrv's civil "lorv 
his highest hope and inspiration. The legends and s(]nu-s, fla^s 
and heraldry, with their beasts and boastings, show through all 
time that prowess in the encounter of bodv with bodv is the bar- 
baric yet universal code of honor. But when the sword of pa- 
triotism is jeweled in the hilt with civil virtues, then a Washing- 
ton rescues the mere wager by battle from its irrational tame, and 
gives added glory to the gem and new splendors to the magisterial 
sword I 

May something, sir, be pardoned to the s])irit of eidogy, when I 
say that thes'e elements of true grandeur found a rare combination 
in Michael C. Kerr"? 

Patient in study, gentleyet firm in his feelings and determinations, 
inspired with the courage of true patriotism, <lefving, as he did, 
the mob with the same energy with which he analyzed a taritf or 
denounced an exacting monopoly — arranging, classifying, assimil- 



:i'2 MEMORIAL ADD IJ E S S K S . 



atiitij: details fur practical service, making liis couseienee his relig- 
ion — lie stands, more than most of the men who have taken ])art 
in our councils since the war, as an exemplar of intelligent and 
fearless, pure ami gentle |)atriotic duty. Yet he was not all judg- 
ment, else he would not lia\c heen a patriot ; he was not all passion, 
else he Would not lia\'e Keen a statesman. In ddiate, as in private 
talk, he had at times great vehemence of manner and great iutre- 
jiidity in action. lie did not toss his thoughts ahout easily ; he 
was at times timid in their utterance till thoroughly assured by 
])atiently mai'shaliug them, and then he was elocpient. Spurning 
traditions and legends, helieving in no law not rcvoealile ; not anx- 
ious to force men to do what he th()nght wji-s best for them ; with 
a noble rage at wrong and a disgust of parasites, he would add no 
largess to bad gains and greeds. What were the meshes of okl 
custom to liis fresh, intpiiring mind '.' \\'hile he never turned away 
fi-om a new trulh, while he had no res])ect for mere anti<piity, while 
he would <'lear away the lush growth over our select shrines of 
duty, he reversed the ancient ways of the Constitution and all its 
muniments with the avdor of a neophyte. Sensitive to every point 
of honor, he was not less careful of his own fame when assailed by 
]icrjurv than of the tinancial and patri(iti<' honor of his country. 

]5ut, sir, while the contemplation of his chai-acter is no compen- 
sation tiir his loss, it is not less instructive than proper for us to 
know the sources of that nuigic which won the sui)])ort of his con- 
stituency and the preferments of this Congress. The secret of 
this talisniauic power lay in the discipline of his mind. He was 
an example, bv no means uncommon in this country, of one who 
was strengthened by wrestling with adversity. The lirst half 
of his life w-a.s a .struggle with poverty, the last with di.sea.se. Ris- 
ing above the trammels of early life, he thought more of brain 
than of brawn. Desiring a larger range of usefulness and ambi- 
tious of thorough education, he struggled out of difficulty into a 



S P E A K E R 51 1 C n A E I. f; . K E R R . 33 



profession where his naturally keen, analytic mind had full play. 
Pie was Hdt (iiily a iiODcl lawyer and advoeate, but liis mind had a 
judicial east, wliich he wcudd no doubt have illustiated in the chair 
hud he lived, and for which i-are trait he was selected as the re- 
porter to the su])reme court of Indiana. He i)elieved in settled 
principles of autiiority bindinu; as tirmh- as the paii'an gods were 
bound by the decne of fate. IJnt while he loved law, lie loved lib- 
erty. As a Massaelnisetts scholar has said, " he loved them to- 
gether," and liei'aiise, like the nitrogen and oxygen of the atmos- 
phere, tiiey give vitality when conil>ined in })roper proitortions. 

To my mind he does not i-ate so iiighly as the lawyer, onlv be- 
cause he was more of the scholar and the statesman. His pre-em- 
inence in the last character came from liis constant ]>rcpai'ation in 
the first. Every speech of his was a study, a treatise. W'lien he 
spoke on matters connected with the laws of wealth, trade, and cur- 
rency, his lucid and cogent style was not more remarkable than his 
abiuidanf information. 

How was this |)reparation inade? lie seldom read works of fic- 
tion or frivolity. The weigiitier and more ;olid authors were to 
his ta.ste and preference. He never read l)ut one or two novels, and 
those in the last of his life. George Eliot's Adam Bede attracted 
him because it endeavored to solve problems of social science. He 
seldom read ])oetry, save Homer's Iliad and Milton ; though Sliakes- 
peare.was always near him, and the Bible fre<|Uentlv consulti'<l. In 
this respect he was not iniiikc Tristem Burgess, the orator of Iihode 
Island. He never intertangled the roses of poetry with tlie liearded 
grain of his philosophy. Still he was a great reader of books. His 
first act when he came to liis home from the office was U> take up 
an unfinished book. He left a lil)rary of twenty-five hundred vol- 
umes, each bought one l)y one, read, marked, and digested. His 
library is full of standard works on political economy, to which he 
always added more, almost until the day of his death. 

20SA 3 



> 



34 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 



Vuv a iiKdi aj»[)areiitly so imcuugenial and cold, tlie liberalties of 
his culture, taste, and logic are remarkable. lie excluded no 
volume, however heterodox or orthodux, IVom liis lil)rarv or ids 
mind. Jetterson was his ideal of a statesman and M'ebster of an 
orator. Pictures of iiotli hang in Ids library. His scrap-book was 
ke])t for the " best thoughts" of tlie llithcrs, as he called them. No 
ethical or partisan bias controlled his reason. You will see in his 
library R6nan'.s life of Jesn.? huddling close to McCo.sh'.s Evidences 
ofChristianity ; 'ryndall .••lia]<('s hands with I'aley ; Draper's Keligion 
and Science stands ])y 15uckle's History of Civilization: liarnes's 
Notes keep company with Tom Paine; Jefferson and Madison are 
almost ind)ound witli Hamilton and Jay ; Henry C. Carey lies be- 
tween Wayland and John Stuart Mill to bridge the aby.ss between 
freetradeand protection. Friends and enemies were alike welcome 
to his mind, and he tested tliem all in the crucible of his reason. 

Out of this abundant reading he was enabled, by his method, his 
regularity and discipline, to evoke general thoughts for practic;d 
life. By his masculine understanding, steady perseverance, and un- 
wearied resolutions he rose above illness, professional avocations, 
and tlic local demands of his constituency to a higher |ilane tiian 
most statesmi'n. Tins element of persistency belonged to ids nat- 
ural traits of charactei-. It was illustrated during his lite. It was 
illustrated in the chair, in the struggle with disea.se, to fill his duty. 
It was illustratc<l in the last hours of his tenacious life, for his rea- 
son remained uninipaired tu the end. 

1 have said that iiis reason and conscience were his religion. It 
was ids habit to submit everything to this test. He squared his life 
M'itii scrnpulons reasons. \o temporal interest of his own or that 
of his family swerved him from fijllowing this guiding element of 
his character. 

He was a scholar; lie was a disciple ot'tiie positive philosophy, de- 
voted to the tenets of Herbert Spjncar, John Stuart Mill, Compte, and 



SPEAKER MICHAEL C. KERE. 35 

Buckle. His political science was drawn, as most jDolitical science 
is, from those of similar pliilosopliic inclinations. Jeremy Benthani 
was his teacher, consciously or unconsoiously. His ideas were not 
transcendental, lint utilitarian. T\w hent of his mind was increased 
liv his studies in tliis scIkioI of philosopliy, hut there was no unrea- 
soning skepticism in his character. 

Despite his unwillingness to believe in anything miraculous or 
iniprohahle, his heart was reverential before the great Omniscience. 
M'itli iiim reason was the first born, an<l, though twin with faitii, 
botli inherited tiie blessing. If he iia<l any bias in his mind it was 
toward reason, though his faitii walked timidly hand in hand with 
it. It is said that the sun is reason, while faith is the lesser orb 
tiiat shines by night. Michael C. Kerr made the great light to 
mil' his busy day. ITnw far the lesser ruled in the contemplations of 
the night only (rod knuws. If faith shiui's only so long as she re- 
fleets some faint illumination from tiie brighter orb, ^vhat casuistry 
shall discard tins man's religious nature from the shrine of a true 
religion '.' 

It is not necessary to renew the scenes of his deatli-be<l here and 
now. ( )ulv this niav bi' >aid, from iMimpetent medical authoritv, 
that rai-ely has one of our race lieeu gifted with such a tenacity of 
life. He lived after his pulse ceased to beat. This fact may .serve 
somewhat to account for the positiveness of his purp(jses in life and 
the positive philosophy to which his intellect inclined. 

He was a democrat on priueijiles f]xe(l bv his studies and jiiii- 
losoj)hy, I was ;diout t<.) say by iiis religion. Yet (as has been trtdy 
said) he was averse to the rough encounters of the hustings. It 
was difficult to induce him to speak outside of his neighborhood. 
Once in Xew York he promised to talk for five minutes to my 
friends, but when on his feet, and with an audience synipathiziug 
with his free-trade ideas, he iielil the audience for two hours in one 
great plea for his favorite liiieralities of commerce and against the 



36 M K M O U I A r, A D n K K S S E s . 

mcreeiiarv iiicqiuilities of pnitcctidii. Tliese were liis favorite tlicmes 
to illustrate liis j!;eiieral political ideas. Tliev were to him an en- 
thusiastic sentiment — his principle of action. He traveled abroad 
to study tiuin. J fc canu' to Congress to give tliciii viiior and effect. 

He was averse to the crowd. When writing to him abmit mv 
representative visit, as Speaker p*'o tempore, to the great exposition, 
he expressed his regret that he did not see the grand engine and its 
wonderful ramifications of harnessed forces ; but at the same time he 
said that lie shrank from sucii tlii'oiigs like the sen.sitive plant Iwfore 
tlic iiuiiian touch. Yet his [xililicai tiniughls were cvcl' "broad, 
based u])on the people's will." His dis.section of tiie que.stious 
growing out of reconstruction and the Southern ballot, which 
had been to him a s|)ecial study, shows the ultimatescorn of a mind 
utterly hating fraud and the lofty patriot w ho reverenced all sec- 
tions and respected all rights. It is said tiiat the spectroscope 
reveals that there is a star which Imriis gold for it> illumination. 
By a wonderful coincidence it is the di.stant star Aldebaran, far 
off in the group of Hyades, which the Rosicruciaiis, who sought to 
transmute all metals into gold, worshiped. That star was tlieir 
fateful genius for inspiration and alchemy. Not less precious to 
him tiian if it were a star of gold was each State, distinct in indi- 
\iduality and liicc to each other in a common rigiit, interest, and 
destiny, whether shining near or f;ir I 

Oh, that God would raise up for our instruction and guidance 
other men of the same exalted type of American manhood — men 
as just, other haters of corruption as earnest, other trii)un(s of the 
people as peei-Ie.ss and fearless, and other statesmen as lofty and 
])ure in patriotic devotion ! AVhen, sir, I jierceivc the emblem of 
mourning over the .-^eat he .so lately occupied,. shrouding our ensign, 
the omen is sadly portentous and painfully suggestive. A\'ere he 
with us in this hour of our solicitude, I know, sir, that h<' would 
not fiil with couratreous counsel. He would revive the hcroisiu of 



s p E a'k e r m I c n a e l . k e It r . 37 

that parliaiDciitarv hand before which royal prerogatives cowered, 
when before tlie privilege of the Conimous and its stanch Speakers 
the bills of right of a free people were made paramount to tiie 
tlnuiders of tiie tlirone! 

His fame was not (pienciied l)y deutii — only his opportunity. 
It was said bv Theodore Parlccr of Samuel Adams that he was not 
in one sense a Christian man, but one of Plutarch's men. So was 
Michael C. Keri:. His human wortii can only be reckoned by 
the gravitv of his loss to us in tiii^ perilous au<l anxious trial for 
the stabilitv and genius of the Government. If .Liberty tiirougli 
his death has lost from tiiis lial! of tlic jiecple one of lier purest 
devotees; if Liberty, like Algernon Sydney, nnist go to tiie scatFold, 
yet from the scaftbld she will ascend to anotiier sphere where there 
is a better code of justice and rigiit ; and there in tiiat realm who 
will give her less stinted welcome than the immortal spirit of 
Michael C. Keri; ! 

Lender such patriotic tliongiits as were his, still surviving death, 
our countrv may cease from its passionate discord. Tiicn jieace 
will bind our States as sheaves are bound in the harvesting, season 
after season, till the latest generation. You, Mr. Speaker, and ye 
who are your brijthcrs in these exalted trusts, ye who have the 
keeping of this bruised and broken land, can ye not all rise under 
the admonition of such a life as our late S[)caker lived into a 
higher sense of duty and a more self-sacriticing patriotism? Can 
we not encompass our l)eloV(.'d land around with a wall of fire that 
will not burn, but guard ? Sliall we not do this betbre its grave 
yawns; that grave where there is ncj work, nor knowledge, nor 
device, nor wisdom? Thus faithful unto death in our trusts, as lie 
was, may we not have the promise of a crown of everlasting life. 



JULIAN HARTRIDGE. 



.T.\mai:y f), 1879. 

It is a wise as woll as a idiiili\- ciistiini to liiimn' (inr (lc]>artc(l 
members. When tlint cluclc pdiiits tn tlic incvitaMr Imur ilc'\iitcii Id 
mciiKH-v and t^ulugy, tiie conflict of opinion, tiie storm of contention, 
and the turlmlcncv of l(■^•islation cease. Tliroutrlitlio rifted clouds 
siiines a serene and purer sky. Wliat if tlie enconiiunis we otler are 
couched in formal phrase; wiiat if sduietiino tiiey Income too trite 
and geveral, and fail in allure tiie ear in tiiis ('iiamlier, wliere sen- 
sations are masters of clocutidu; wliat if in laudation wi' become 
indiscreet and exag<rerative — still the custom is one ever to be 
reverentiv observed, as well for its benignity to ourselves and its 
solemnitv upon our deliberations as for the i)roper honors to the 
dead and for tiie encDuragenient (if the liviuLT. 

What i> the le-^snu it teaches? What, after all, i< the glory which 
so attracts us? The answer comes even in the voice of the E|)ieu- 
rean : 

It is an echo, a ilriaui ; luay, the sIukIdw ofa dream, (lissii)ateil l>.v every wiiiil, 
and lost by every oontrary breath of the ignoraut and ill-judging. Yon fear 
not that even death shall ravish it from yon ; bnt behold ! while yon are alive 
calnmny bereaves you of it ; ignorance neglectsit ; nature enjoys it not ; Fancy 
alone, renouncing every pleasure, receives the airy recompense, euipty and 
unstable as Iierself. 

No one dreamed that, after the many deaths in our body, this 
friend would be the next. As we heani our daily roll-call and 
38 



J U L I A N H A R T R I D G E . 39 



looked upon onr catalogue, he bid as fair as any for longevity in the 
chances of life. Ah ! it \yas a sad pen which inscribed the name of 
Julian HAitTiiiDGK, of (reorgia, upon the "yearly scroll of fate." 

It was a sad fite tliat left liiin in the midst of liis noMc career 
withered like a leaf on a summer's tree before tlic autumn or winter 
came to chill and blast. Almost before we were through witli the 
obsequies of others his ])arting knell sounded, and we bore him away 
to the endearing circle which received iiim so loyinglv in Jiis beauti- 
ful southern liomc. 

^'arious arc the relations wc sustain to each other in this House. 
It would take a I'syclieto assoi-t and arrange the "confused seeds" 
out of which have grown so many and such endearing relations of 
regard and affection. Some of us live liere under the same roof; 
some serve on the same committee ; some take the same side on 
favorit(.' tliemcs ; some have had in oiir changcfid American 
life nuitual friends who have brought tlicin toacther ; some are 
knit to each otiier by association in their own States; and otjiers, 
thougli far distant, sliare early and delightfid reminiscences, and 
among them that one whicji springs radiant out of the morning of 
litl', cidianccd and beautified liy college partiaHtics and studies. 

The relation which drew me to Ji'lian Hartimixje was the 
last one. \\ e wei-e as far apart as Oliio and Georgia, where our 
parent-^ lived ; yet we became <'hildren of the same parent in Xe^y 
England. Our (ihrni iiuitcr was Krown University. I was his 
elder ill tlic college, graduating two years in advance of him ; but 
not the elder in that sedateness and reserve which is snpposed to 
mark the years liy this disposition, and which give even to the 
young a strength that maturity does not liestow. It was this col- 
lege memory of our n/uui iimtcr wliicii (piiekened and j)resei-vcd 
onr frien<lsliip here. 

Having reached the stadium of a half century of vears, memo- 
ries of early ass(jciates become more distinct and intcrcstini;-. As I 



40 M E M O R I A L A D D R K S S E S . 

look l);icl< to those cMrlydays tlicv return willi tlieir i-eliet rndiance 
and cneliaiitnient, like a dawn, all opaline In the sky, all diamond on 
the grass, all auroral with a joyous sjilendor, through which lilini- 
mers a mist of tears for those who shareil their jovonsness, and w ho 
one by one tall and iade. ,Vs our years "slo])e waning down the 
arch," tlicse hope.s and illusion.s, as now and here, become memory. 

Others may speak of Julian Haktiudge as a luisband and 
fatlier, of his afteetionate heart and tendi'r sensibilities, and of his 
domestic ties. These, with all Ids reserve, lie eonld not conceal. 
Do we not rct"all his tremulous and tearful tribute to his old colored 
nurse, spoken from yonder desk ? It was a perilous theme in this 
House, too often elVnsive in its irreverent mirth. ( )tliers may s])eak 
of him as citizen, soldici', lawyer, and man. tilling with upright- 
ness an<l honeslsall the I'elatioiis to iamily, clieiil, >tate, an<l so- 
ciety. It is mine to speak of him as a scholar, as one wlio.-e men- 
tal characteristics were, as he often told me, molded and inspired 
by our grand teaclier, Ur. Francis A\'ayland, ami the corps of ad- 
mirable jtrofessors associated with him at IJrown University. 

In milking up manhood, nuieh may lie attriliuled lo hereditary 
causes, nuich to earlv parental guaixlianship and care, but more to 
tlie discipline and knowledge which education gives. Who shall 
underrate the beneficence, not to speak of the advantages, of educa- 
tion '.' 

It has been well said that " it is a companion which no misfor- 
tune can depress, no crime can destroy, no enemy can alienat<', no 
despotism enslave. .\t home a friend, abroad an introduction, in 
solitude a solace, and in society an ornament. It chastens vice, it 
guides virtue, it gives at once grace and government to genius ; 
without it, what is man ? A splendid slave, a reasoning savage." 

It is customary with some to depreciate scholarship. There are 
those who find in its )iedautry some sort of com])ensation for their 



J U L I A N II A K T E I D G E . 41 



owu want. Even those wlio are accomiilislicil sdiiictlnus affect to 
despise its attainments. 

Trnlv, it is not alone of eliietlv liy IkkiI^s that nianhoml is made. 
Was it not < 'arl\-le w lio said that "a man [HTft'ets himself hy woi'lv 
more tlian liv reading"? J5nt lie was iliseriminatine' ; f<ir he gave 
till' meed ot']>raise to that growing kind uf men that eond)ine the 
two things wisely, and who valiantly do what is laid to their hand 
in the present sphere and prepare themselves -withal for doing other 
widei' things if sneh l)e heforethem. 

This was the e(hication wliit'h gave ns the scholarship and intel- 
lect of Jtliax Hartridge. It was pecnliar to jirown Uni- 
versity. Is was the educational system of Dr. Wayland. It lay 
in the power of analysis. It was the dissection of a sulijeet into 
its eonstitutent parts, to i'orni a complete and ronndeil whole ; tcrrii 
(itijiic rotumhiii. It was the remark of Professor Greenleaf, of ( 'am- 
bridge, that in the first recitation lie could tell where his law stndents 
graduated; but he always marked those of Brown, because of this 
special training in analysis. Certainly the niendiers of the Judi- 
ciary Committee of this House, and the courts and bar of (reorgia, 
in recognizing the cuoeiit ad\'iicate must have seen how his finer sus- 
ceptibility was kept in training and in stduiiini iiv this earlv disci- 
^diiic. 

What were his favorite bo(jks an<l studies, and what his recrea- 
tii:)ns, what his habits in college life, it maybe curious if not useful 
briefly to rei'all, although they do not infallibly indicate the subse- 
cpieiit life. How few of the ambitions of college days are realized, 
how f(jw of tlieircherisheddt'signsare carried out ! How frail in afb'r 
years seem those sustaining illusions and enrapturing enthusiams 
which sjiringlike fiiuntainsout of the rocks of study, :dl pure, crystal- 
line, and iridescent ! It was the verdict of JruAX Hartridge's 
college mates that although he was reserved and made l)ut few ac- 
quaintances and had but few companions and confidants, he wasever 



42 M K M O K I A L A U D U K S S ]•: S . 



courteous and kind, ohivalnc, and tnictoliis convictiuii.s. This re- 
serve seemed to some to have an air of iiantenr, bnt we wlio knew 
liim understood liim better. Perhaiis it came fmiii a certain isola- 
ticin ill t lie college growiiiji' ont of sectional feeling, wiiicii even then 
had i)eriiieatc(l cmr institutions of learning. 

Wiiatever lie did lie did well. Ilis dilatoriuetss and laxity of 
eff()rt at times seemed to be filled up by an excellence when he was 
aroused which must have been the fruit of abstraction and medita- 
tion, 'riioiigli he may not have stood as high as some others in his 
class, sometimes failingoutright, yet what he did was perfected, like a 
cameo cut i)y a practiced hand, with an exqui.site sensibility to the 
beautiful. He was regarded, in spite of certain shortcomings, a.s a 
brilliant scholar; and especially brilliant in the art of rhetoric. 
Those who have heard him here will not be surprisoil that his fancy, 
his suseci)tibility, his southern ardor, ciiasteiied and curl)e<l liy dis- 
cipline, gave him facile grace and elevated genius in oratory. His 
junior speech in 1848 was on the " Superstitions of the Highlands." 
One of the professors remarked of it that never, in essay or speech, 
had he listened to such a warm and glowing tribute as that paid to 
Robert IJiinis and his religion of humanity. 

He was very hap|)y with his pen, wi-iting with fliicii<y and fervor, 
l)iit he was most felicitous in oratory. No one doiilited his power. 
In his s])eaking he had that dash, that clan which is characteristic of 
the gifted .Southerner. There was in his voice an indetinable mag- 
netism over an audience that held them as in a spell, as he "graced 
the noble fervor of the hour." He had tlie natural endowment of 
the orator who is born, not made. No one in lii> class so iascinated 
and thrilled. 'Phis was doubtless the secret and select compensation 
he chose for any indifference toother branches of culture. I have 
wondered that he did not more frequently disjday this rare gift in 
this House. i'erhap- in his niode-t regard of hiin>elf he underesti- 
mated its charm. He took no jiains to excel in class-room work, 



JULIAN n A RTRIDGE. 43 

and gradiiatod with moderate rank; but all agreed that he was no 
idler. He was a diligent reader, especially of history and historical 
fiction. All agreed that his was a mind of unusual brilliance, but 
few then anticipated that he would erect so solid and su])crl) a struct- 
ure (in t\u' hard science of the law. 

\Vc who served here with him know how partial he was to his 
State, his section, and its institutions and history. Even in his col- 
lege days these loc;d feelings were very marked. The\' were encour- 
aged by his habitual reserve in a New England .State. One of the 
freaks \vlii<'li grew out of tliem ijlusti'atcd the intensity of his local 
pride. M'iicn tjic class of " moral science" lingered {\nw weeks in 
debate over the slavery question he persistently refused to recite dur- 
ing that time, because he would not rcjjcat Dr. AN'ayland's sentiments 
as expressed in the te.\t-book. Luckily, the State of Roger Will- 
iams and the uuiversitx' which was foumlcd on liie ])rinciples of 
toleration exj^resscd in its charter passed this by as a jiardonalile 
element of the genius loci, which is not peculiar to any sectior. 

That which first gave to Dr. Wayland his fame was not his pecu- 
liar methods of teaching ; it was his tractate on " Responsibility." 1 f 
his scholars were not impressed by him witii this idea, in its higjiest 
meaning, it was from an inborn oliduracy in tjie scholar. He taught 
us that it was the gravitation of the moral luiiverse ; that intellectnal 
beings were moral agencies; and that they nuist have this virtue or 
be sundered from God's universe. Without it the ruler is a tyrant, 
the judge a despot, the legislator a cliarlatan, and the philosopher an 
empiric. It is the strength and the ornament of the soul. M'ithout 
it what arc the rudiments, vestments, and culture of the mind '.' 

Wliat his constituents and his State loved in JrLr.\.x HAiiTRUHJE 
was this sense of accountaljility and his recognition of it as duty. 
Imbedded in his nature, which never knew a dishonest thought, and 
along witli his mental habitudes, was the moral genius iuiplantedby 
our great teacher, whom the sons of Brown University ever delight 



44 MK:\rOTM Al- ADDRES SES. 



to revere. It was tliis luciital imwcr ami nigral rcciiliulo which 
Julian Hartkidi;!-; lnnv awas- iVdiu the city oi' l'i'iivi<l('ncc wlicii 
lie hciiaii the active labors oC his |irufessi()ii ami tilled the offices 
with which his |ie<i|)le iiili-ustcd him. J'ractical edueatioii is not 
obtained l)v hook or hy n^eitation. Few wiio leave their imprint 
on tlio world are thus educated. There is a ^elf-education that 
only collision with others can jjive. Nay, this conflict must umdu- 
cate often to re-educate for practical duty. There are cloi.stered 
virtues which ])onder the pi-oMems of this and the other life, but 
it is in the heat and dust of active liti' where the yuerdou of f 



:uue 



i.s won. 

Lord Bacon says — 

Certain it is tliat wlinsiicver h:itli liis iiiiiid fVaiislit witli many thoughts, 
his wits and luiclcrstaiuliiig do (darify and l)rfalv uii in llii! communicating 
and discoursing' witli one another; lie tosses his thoughts more easily; he 

marshalitli them iiioi rderly ; he seeth how tliey loo]< wlien tliey .are turned 

into words; finally, he waxeth wiser, and that more by au hour's discourse 
than by a day's meditation. 

It was in the collisions of the forum, of the court, and the 
legislature, and in the fierce arena of debate, when one mind 
sharpeneth another by the cuiinino- of logical fence, that this 
commaudiuti' power was developed and increased in our friend. 

Coming thus equijipcd for service here, may M-e not say that he 
has kept with studious heed his faith to the oath he took to our 
organic law? He stood here for all the muniments, limitations, 
rio-hts, and powers of the Constitution as it was and is. He knew 
well their meaning, and had no timi<lity in following the needle 
which pointed to the haven designated in the articles. He desired 
to restore to the nation tlie hallowed and healing spirit of- mutual 
confidence and conciliation. When he came hither he brought no 
mentid or moral reservation. Indeed, he was, as his report on the 
reopening of the Presidential matter in this Congress .showed, con- 
spieuonslv conservative in many senses of the peace ami conteut- 
nient of the jicople. 



J IT L I A N H A R T R I D f i E . 45 



I Imve said tliat Mr. Hartridge had a dainty and refined 

.xensil)iiity. It was not liiuited to taste in art or in literature. 
He was fund ol' ll;)\vei's, and espc<'ialiy (if tlidsi' i-are flowers -wliirli 
are of tropical oriiiin. The Brazilian ordiids, in oiu' J)otanic 
(Jarden, were iiis delit^lit. 'i'liiy are the olfsprinn' of ])erpetnai 

snnnner. Tiiey elino- to th'c trees and hloeks of w I, and feed not 

npon tlie soil, lint npon the moist and heated air. 'I'heir variety 
and lirlllianee of <Mlor and e.\'(iuisite anuna are said to excel all 
tiie productions of the floral kingdom. Their lialiits hcloni;- to 
tlK' atmosphere and not to the earth, and their formation is a por- 
trayal of the entire scope of animated nature, including- a mimic 
earicatiire of the hnman s[)ecies. There is one in the Botanic 
(Jarden, known to science as Cattleya Wftr^rnru'zii, which excels 
all of its niimei'ons trihes. It was this flower which mv friend 
was accustomed to watch. lie visited the aarden auain and ao-ain 
to observe the development (jf its gorgeous blossoms. It decorated 
his desk and casket on the occasion ctf his obserpiies. I thonght 
he wonld love to have his fiivorite in lite n<'ar to him in death. 
No poet has yet sung of this airy, ex(piisite flower. The rose and 
lily have had their minstrels, hiit no muse has vet attem]ited 
to cxjiress the delicate kweliness of this paragon <if beantv, whose 
hue outblanches the lily and outblnshes the rose. W timcv were 
allowed some license, something in our friend's character and 
culture nu'ght be found syndiolized in this flower. Itsvarietv; 
its luxuriance; its honeyed wealth, which, from its constitntion, 
no insect can touch without death; its ixilated growth amid loftv 
tropical trees, to which it clings like a bird of many-colored 
plumage; its unsullied purity amidst the surroundings of fen and 
marsh, are emblems of his rare excellence, his exuberant im- 
agination, his sweetness of disposition, his superioritv to the little 
annoyances of daily life and to the temptations which beset ns in 
pursuing the duties and andiitions of our political life. His very 



46 MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 



reserve and isolation, his " liigli-biiilt jjenius" — above the grovel- 
inji matters nf eartli — jjive, like his favorite flower, a fragrance to 
his nu'iiiiirv wliicli ciiihaliii-^ it liircvcr in the heart. 

The coimumiitv wlin-c he livcil was paralyzed hy the snddenness 
ol' their ciilainity. 'i'liey eonld seareely realize that tlie music of his 
voice, wiiicli melteil tiiem with pathos or convinced them with reason, 
was hushed forever. Tliey had expected that their favorite would 
have been preferred to otlier lionors than those wliich belong to 
Georii'ia here, i.itticdid tiiey expect that tlirir beii)ved Representa- 
tive would end his existence befdre tiiat service was ended. Little 
did thev expect that only his inanimate ihvm would return to them. 
There was somq solace for their loss in the honors which this House 
and the country paid their Keprescntative ; but it was indeed a somber 
dav f(irtli(citv(if Savanuaii wiieu tlie Ix.dy of .IruAX llAirntiDGE 
was borne to tlieni. 

In the State of Georgia few men since the day of her great states- 
man, William H. Crawford, have been so distinguished and beloved. 
All classes of all races and all professions — soldier, civilian, and citi- 
zen — united in swelling the chorus of praise and contributing their 
sijrrowing svnipathy. Even as the mrtci/c passed through the city 
bearing iiim to his last resting-place, the mosses wlii<h drape the oaks 
of the forest added their funereal sadness to the scene. 

That gentle spirit has departed from us. While tiiiuking of liini 
sterner eves than mine will well with tears over his departure. The 
college boy, the legislator, and tiie friend, these are my bereavement ; 
others mav miss a lii'e-long friend, a trusted counselor, a kind father, 
anil lovinuim-liand,and(ieorgia will miss oneof her leading lawyers 
and statesmen. All the meshes whicii have been woven around his 
daily life to bind him earthward aresnndereil, but only sundered to 
be rewoven, we hope, in the better country, where " the silver cord is 
never loosed, nor tlic golden l)owl ever broken." 



,1.^j^.. 



V, 



^ 




y^/y/.' /r.>r/^/^ /^ 



^/// 



'///// 



PEOFESSOR JOSEPH HENEY. 



January 1(3, 1879. 



Wf, Iiave found liy recent sad experiences in this Hall that 
deatli is no resjjecter of persons. Neither is lie a respecter of 
seasons. He may choose the merriest month for the saddest 
bereavement. In May last, when the sun was warm, the sky 
blue, the flowers in bloom, and the trees luxuriant in leaf, he 
entered yonder quaint structure secluded amid its greenery and 
bore away one of our rarest minds and purest men. By one fatal 
wrench of his skeleton hand a splendid career of eighty years was 
closed; in a twinkling the one hard problem of a long and studious 
life was solved; the wonder- world beyond had become a "discov- 
ered country" to Joseph Henry. Its season, we trust, is per- 
petual May to him. Its new life removed from him, if not from 
his bereaved family and friends, the sting of death, and from the 
grave its victory. 

The lightning, which had been evoked by him to transmit its 
instantaneous message to the remotest parts of the earth, sjxxl on 
its quick errand to tell the learned of all lands that an intellectual 
magnate had been translated. The magnetic cord whose first duty, 
as arranged by him, was to send the tidings of a new star over land 
and under ocean to every seat of science, heralded to all that "God 
had unloosed his weary star," and that he was a lost luminary in 
the galaxy of intellect. 

Wail! for the glorious Pleiad fled! 

Wail! for the ne'er returning star! 
Whose mighty music ever led 

The spheres in their high homes afar. 

(47) 



46 MKMOllIAL ADDRESSES. 



Aisociatod Avith our Government through the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, and with the world through the amenities of science w liidi 
it created, the loss of Joseph Henuy is not iiicrcly natioiml; it is 
cosmopolitan, universal. It is fitting that tiie head of an institu- 
tion which welcomes all countries and all worlds should have a 
tribute here worthy of such extended and shining fame. 

In our i'ederal \\ay, we order condemned cannon to make bronzes 
for our soldiers. Our land is full of the effigies of military 
heroes. I have no criticism upon such a patriotic custom. Indeed, 
I see that the gallant soldier (General Sherman) is to follow me; 
and I am more than reluctant to suggest a word of dissent from 
sucli an honored observance. Our parks display also the forms of 
literary celebrities — Shakespeare, Goethe, Scott, and Burns, 
and the grand bead-roll, favored of the muses, with only now and 
then a Humboldt, and a dim memory of (iOETHE as a devotee of 
science. The WAtsiiixoTONS and Tells, soldiers and patriots, 
arouse the enthusiasm of the masses of mankind. This too may bo 
well; for the Princes of Science, like Archimedes, Galileo, Kep- 
ler, Newton, Gioja, Toricelli, Bovle, Leibnitz, Laplace, 
Daw, Herschel, Arago, Lyell, Faraday, and Henry, 
have their niche in a more exalted and enduring Pantheon. 

Bacon, the father of experimentid science! What are divines, 
jurists, statesmen, soldiers, princes, to this great and audacious 
leader of human investigation for trull i against mere speculation? 
Newton, of whom Macaulay says that "in no other miud liuve 
the demonstrative faculty and the inductive faculty coexisted in 
such supreme excellence and perfect harmony?" — what are the 
mere temporary favorites of the mass of men compared with him ? 
History gives its muse unbounded license to sing the glories of the 
Napoleons of our world. They were indeed guiding intellects; 
thev were wonderful for civic organization and still more wonderful 
in their genius for destruction. But to the thoughtful miml their 



PROFESSOR JO SET II HENRY. '19 

heroism is not comparable with tliat of liumble Edmund Halley, 
who investigated tlie properties of the atmosphere, the tides, mag- 
netism, and the comets, and wlio periled his life in seeking the 
distant Island of Saint Helena, there to map out in suhliiue isola- 
tion the sonthern constellations. He was no prisoner, no e.xile, no 
modern defiant Prometheus chained to a rock. He was the 
peaceful observer and serene conqueror of worlds which Alexan- 
der never sighed to conquer and wliich Napoleon never looked 
upon save in selfish moodiness from that historic rock. 

Lord Bacon has been referred to most jicrtinently by the learned 
gentleman. Professor Rogers. May I make another reference to 
the father of induction? He; gave us written wisdom Ixyond that 
of the ancients. He has said that — ''Whereas founders of States, 
law-givers, extirpers of tyrants, fathers of thr prople were hniinn'd 
but with titles of worthies or demi-gods — inventors were ever 
consecrated with the gods themselves." 

These are golden words. They properly interpret a philosophic 
mind. In Bacon's me^ming of the word invent<ir, he compre- 
hended those who both discover and a])ply, originate and use, the 
secrets of nature for the increase and difTusion of kngwledge and 
the benefiiction of mankind. 

States come and go; a king to-day is a subject to-morrow; the 
discrowned suzerain of the Orient last year, this year is the vassal 
of a newly crowned emj^ress. Lawgivers who pursue their tortuous 
and tangled paths, what can they do among the atoms or the spaces? 
They appropriate mou(y, fix taxes, raise armies, dedans M'ar; but 
to change one little chemical relation, how powerless! Not all the 
statutes ever inscribed on parchment can stoj^ soft iron from becom- 
ing a magnet by a certain process of galvanic polarization; yet he 
who discovered so simple a relation with such magnificent results 
would have been deified by the Greeks along with that god of 

beauty who drove the chariot of the sun or that god of strength 
2()8a 4 



no MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 



who colonizetl men, conquered nature, and achieved civilization 
along the shores of the classio azure sea. 

In this aj^e of physical progress and grandeur, when experiments 
show that the "constant elements" are coquetting with us \>y their 
inconstancy; when the tough old gases are being tortured, liquefied, 
and solidified; when oxygen no longer holds out and hydrogen 
begins to .succumb; when microphones, telephones, phonographs, 
and electric lights and ISIenlo Park wizards, astound us by their 
niirack's; when cables are duplexed and spectroscopes are bringing 
down almost to our crucibles those remote stars fixed and "pinna- 
cled dim in the intense inane;" when Lockyer is said to be 
proving by the bands of the spectrum the unity of nature, by 
showinsr that all the elements are in some modification, our fomiliar 
hydrogen; when the many are made one, or all elements are unified, 
it is no lisrht honor to be the hero or even one of the heroes of 
such an age, — an age not mcrelv of iron and steam and gold, but 
emphatically the age of light and lightning! 

AVhat Archimedes was to the lever, Newton to gravitation, 
the Herschels to astronomy, Davy to the mining lamp, Tori- 
CELLi to the barometer, GiOJA to the comp;iss, Rumford to heat, 
Faraday to electro-chemical affinity, Boyle to pneumatics, 
GuTEXBERG to printing, "Watt to steam, Frauxiiofer to the 
spectrum. Draper to i)liotography, and what Lockyer is becom- 
ing to spectroscopic analysis, that was Hexry to electro-magnetic 
force. No quest for the lioly grail was ever made with more 
chivalric, vigilant, and reverent pursuit than he made for the 
subtile and secret forces of the magnet. 

Yet this man moved in our midst for thirty years, little known to 
the throng who visit and vanish here Mith our political vicissitudes. 
With them he had little or no fame. He pursued no devious path 
to fleeting honors. But there was nothing wanting to give Jiim 
present delectation and lasting renown. His old-time courtesy, his 



PROrKSSOR JOS Km HENRY. 51 



charming simplicity, his loving domestic relations, his singleness of 
purpose, his freedom from sordid, jealous, harsh, and hitter (pialities, 
his chaste, subdued, and genial huuKir, his pure, poetic, and sesthctic 
suscejitihilitv, his henignant and digniiied manner, his delight in 
acquiring, what he imparted with so much suavity, and his earnest 
and unobtrusive pursuit of lofty ends through noble means, gave 
him il'licity, ay, even genuine feme, in this life. 

Called to administer the Smithsonian trust, his conscientious 
devotion gave it from the first the direction designed l>y the testator. 
His aim was to originate and disseminate. He scattered the seed 
broadcast, not through whim or favoritism, but on a matured plan. 
His place required a love of science, along with a talent for organ- 
ization. He Ijrouglit these to bear npon tlw origination of 
knowledge, and by his scientific sympathy and ready recognition 
of others of his guild he commanded honest homage and became 
the director, iielper, and umpire in scientific disputation. Did the 
War Department require his aid in meteorology? He gave the 
plan of weather signals. Did the Census Bureau ask his help? 
He planned the remarkable atlas as to rain-falls and temperature. 
Did the Coast Survey require scientific suggestion, or the Centen- 
nial Commissioners his judgment, or the new library and the " Scliool 
of Art" a friend and adviser, or the Light-House Board laws of 
sound for togs, and cheaper and l)etter illumination? He freely 
gave what was gladly welcomed. His Institution gave Agassiz 
opportunity to study fishes, B.iird birds, and all students encour- 
agement to investigate our American arclueology and ethnology, as 
well as our fauna and flora. 

Tlie fund which was under his control was scrupulously used. 
At our annual meetings as regents I caimot fail to recall the black- 
board where his fisc was chalked with all the exactness of an old 
accountant and explained with all the nervous solicitude of a school- 
boy doing his first sum. 



62 ME 31 O RIAL ADDRESSES. 

Never was trustee so free from suspicion of personal enrichment. 
He died a.s he had lived, witli little iiicunihrancc from the dross of 
tiie M(irld. Tliose learned inrn win) have spoken will recall some 
of his experiments which showed Ikiw tiie metals could penetrate 
eacii otiior; he cared more for this than to fill his own coffers with 
them, iiowsoevcr precious.* He was content with tlie golden key 
to the enchanted ciiambers of science. In all his discoveries and 
with a name whose emphasis was worth millions in speculation, 
there was not in ins heart a commercial inclination. He was too 
proud to patent his thoughts. They were the property of mankind, 
made sacred by the seal of Omniscience! He had his own exci'cd- 
ing great reward in their meditation and diffusion. His modest 
salary, limited by his own choice, supplied liis inodest wants; and 
in"s services in tlie Ijight-House Board from first to last were gratu- 
itously rendered. He planted the vineyard and others had the fruit 
and drank the wine thereof. MoRSE, Graham, Bell, Edisox, 
and others gave to tlie mysteries wliich he unshadowed, definite, 
practical, l)aying results; but, to use his own words, he never tluis 
compromised his independence. He was hungry and thirsty for 
knowledge, but not for ease and luxury. To prostitute his knowl- 
edge for gain was inexpressible profanation. Not all the bonanzas 
from tlic Sierras could tempt him from his rectitude. Without 
money and M'ithout ])rice, he gave what he acquired. To make 
merciiandise in liis grand temple and out of his sacred calling was 
to touch with sacriiegioHs hands the ark of the covenant he had 
made as a high priest of nature. His good name was better than 



* Another Investigation had Its origin in the accidental observation of the 
foUowlng fact: A quantity of mercury had been left undisturlied in a shallow 
saucer with one end of a jiiece of lead wire, about the diameter of a goose-i|Uill, 
and six inches lonj; |)lun!ted into it, the other end resting on the shelf. In this 
condition it was found after a few days that the mercury had i>assed throujrh the 
solid lead, as if it were a siplion, and was lying on tlie shelf still in a llqiiid 
condition. The saucer contained a series of minute crystals of au amalgan\ of 
lead and mercury. — Letter u/ J^ru/cssor Jleiu'i/, coiiccnwiy researches at Prineetun, 
December h, li>70. 



P U O r E S S O K J U S K 1> II II E N K Y . 53 

riclics, and all iiKuicy which did iidt contrilnite to his lofty aims, 
like the inoiK'v of the fairy, was as ashes in his sight. 

With this idea of his trust need we wonder at his measureless 
contempt for the merecnaries and jobbers who filled this eitv and 
even dishonored the halls of legislation? His life was a living 
protest against this age of thrift and greed. He drew his rules of 
duty not from the silly codes of ostentatious UKxlern society. The 
wisdom and humanity, <'mbodied in that ancient code of freedom 
which the mailed barons and the great primate of Englaml coerced 
from an unwilling king, he applied to his function as a finder and 
teacher of truth: "We will sell to no man; we will not deny or 
delay to any man right or justice!" Joseph Henry had, as his 
organic law from the Magna Cliarta engraved on the tablet of his 
being, this affirmation: "7 wvV/ sell to no imrn, vor iri// I doii/ or 
dchtji to ani/ man tJir precious hiowlcdyc drawn under the jiroridcncc 
of God from the arcana of nature." 

But it is not by his personal virtues or official trustworthiness 
that he will be best remembered; not even liy his varied accom- 
])lishments in the sciences, nor because he was a successful specialist 
in many lields. Yet how multiplied- and diverse were his gifts and 
services? Did Japan try the ex[)eriment of j)rogress, or Kane and 
Hayes struggle to reach the North Pol(> and its open sea for 
discovery — his sympathy was cordial and ready. Was it as an 
engineer, geologist, mechanician, ethnologist, meteorologist, or arclise- 
ologist, he was equally at home in each and all. Was it in the 
practical application of science ? As master of acoustics, he applied 
his researches to buildings for human comfort, and to fosr-sitrnals 
for the saving of values and life. Was it in optics? The greatest 
star and the least atom were in harmony before his telescope and 
microscope. ' Would Government know projectiles to use in war; 
would the farmer know how his potatoes and wheat grew, or whence 
the egg, and how it matured out of the elements into life — would 



5-4 MEMOniAL ADDRESSES. 



he know when to sow and wlirn to harvest; woukl the mariner 
have signals of danger an<l the merchant, warrior, and dii)lomat 
messages as fleet as thonght,— the knowledge of this philosophic 
mind rallied to its work, with a zeal which never flagged, and a 
practical success beyond all expectations and pi-aisc. And thus in 
various branches of physics he was the companion of Hake, Silli- 

MAN, DUAI'ER, TORREY, AgASSIZ, GuYOT, GrAY, PeIRCE, 

Bache, and Baird; the student of Newton, Cuvii'.r, Arago, 
WoLLASTON, and others of perpetual fame; and the correspondent 
of Faraday, Tyndael, Proctor, and others of another hemi- 
sphere who are engagetl in active, daily, arduous duty to science. 

In a tractate which h.e wrote in December, 1876, concerning his 
researches while at Princeton, he gives a nmst interesting account of 
his contribution with reference to the origin of mechanical power 
and the nature of vital force. How plainly he defined and how 
richly he colored this recondite subject ! He takes the crust of the 
earth in a state of eciuilibrium and describes tlie substances which 
constitute that crust, such as acids and bases. He pursues them 
into a state of permanent combination, inert and changeless. True, 
he finds what he calls an infinite thin ])ellicle of vegetable and 
animal matter on the surface — men and mollusks, Caucasians, con- 
gressmen, and conifertie, elephants, and forests; but all the changes 
on that surfiice he refers to a beautiful law of light radiating from 
celestial space! How comprehensively he generalizes all the prime 
movers wiiidi produce molecular changes in matter! 

These he refers to two classes: the first, that of water, tide, and 
wind power; the second, steam and other powers developed by 
combustion, and animal power. Gravity, cohesion, electricity, and 
chemical attraction, while they tend to produce a state of equilibrium 
or repose on our plaiut, art' only sectmdary agents in protlucing 
meclianical effects. Must not the water have its level on the surface 
of the ocean? In seeking it, is it not a force for the welfare of 



PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY, 



man? Yes; hnt its jirimaiy cause of motion is tlie force wliich 
elevated it in vapor under tiic radiance of the sunbeam. Comljus- 
tion, too, is l)ut the passage from an unstalile into a stable combina- 
tion of the cai-bon and hydrogen of the fuel, with oxygen of the 
atmosjjhere. These he resolves into the force which causes the 
separation of these elements from their previous combination in tlie 
state of carbonic acid, to the radiant heat of the sunbeam ! What 
is the mechanical ])o\ver exerted by animals? It is but the passage 
of organized matter taken into the stomach, from an unstable to a 
stalde equilibrium. It is the combustion of food. Animal power, 
like the combustion of fuel, is potential again in the sunbeam ! 
Arriving thus at the very threshold of the mystery of vitalitv, he 
asks: What is its office? Only that of the engineer who directs the 
power of the engine. 

But these exploits and associations, incentives and accomplish- 
ments, do not furnish the substantial pediment of Hexky's fame. 
Di<l he sjicnd his vacation as Princeton professor in blowing soap- 
bubbles for a fortnight? It was not the bubl)le reputation which he 
sought. He was seeking something less fragile and prismatic; he 
was then investigating the law of liquid films and molecular energy. 
^^ hat is he doing with the thermal telescope, so exquisitely con- 
structed, referred to this evening by Professor Eogees, with such 
loving and delicate analysis, and so recently used in our country 
under the auspices of Edison? Finding out not merelv that the 
moon has no heat, but measuring the heat of some animate oliject 
in a distant field. He is making the type of a mechanism beyond 
all expression refined. 

In all these branclKS he was a central light. Ep.mund Spensee 
has been called tlie poets' poet. Joseph Henry may be called the 
sarant of the physicists. He loved to sliow what science was in its 
essence, lifting in living harmony all speculations and experiments 
into a higher plane ; Scicnfia scicntiaruni ! For half a century he 



56 MKMOllIAL ADDRESSES. 

never ceased to investigate the uses and tlie correlation of forces, 
and tlie nnidilicatidn and i-onservation of cner<ry. Here his faith 
was paranioiinl to liis knowledge. AVhetlier the energy possessed 
by any set of bodies were ]iotcntial, stored ii]> and unseen, or 
whether it were visiliiy performing its work; yet in all its phases 
he believed it never altered. Wherever it might go, and howsoever 
it might elude liuniau vigilance, it was not lost. It was conserved. 
It could not but ly "annihilation die," and God permitted no 
annihilation of his ibrces. These studies led him to the grand 
discovery by which he will be ever remembered. 
• Above all, he was an electrician. Columbus had no better title 
to the discovery of the new world than Henry has to the discovery 
of the prineijile of the magnetic telegraph. Make a catalogue of 
his score and more of general and special services in science; digest 
his thirty years of Smithsonian reports, and at last his simple 
magnet — the horseshoe — is the emblem and evidence of his jxnver 
over the wizardry of nature in her most marv(>lous manifestations. 
His experiences from youth fitted him for his work. His Scotch 
Presbyterianism did not unfit him for a combat with the dia- 
blerie of the storm. His engineering from the Hudson to Erie 
strengthened him for the labor limw of closet and laboratory. His 
experience as a jeweler-journeyman gave him a knowledge of mech- 
anism and tools not to be despised in experiment and in an age 
which C.viUA'i.E sings as that of "Tools and the man." His pro- 
fession of mathematics gave precision to his thoughts and calcula- 
tions. Only one anomaly appears in his early days, before the 
magnetic current attracted him by its spell. He loved fiction, 
poetry, and play-acting. Like AmpKke and other scientists, he, 
too, had his romantic mood and his tender age. Perhaps this tend- 
ency quickened his imagination and gave hope and success to his 
cxpei'iments by its a priori allurements. Why should it not? 
Hypothesis may be delusive; so was alchemy, but it was the pro- 



P K O F E S S O 11 JOSEPH U E N U Y . 57 

genitor (if fheini.strv. M'as not astroldgy a tlieoiy, a poem, a dream ? 
Yet it led up a ladder of stars to the siiblimest of sciences. It was 
said I)y one of my ])redecessors, (the Hon. Mr. Withers,) who 
spoke this evening-, that Professor Henry wa.s not a genius. In 
tlie sense of a poetaster of a small coterie and of little fancy, lie 
was no genius. It was said his illumination came slowly and 
through lalxir. Ah! so i^ did, perhaps, until he found the volume 
that awoke and started his peculiar tendency and talent. He liad 
genius; but he had the masterly genius to curb and contml it, to 
direct and glorify it. 

It lias been said that at one time he was enamored of the drama 
and was almost persuaded to make it his permanent occupation. 
He had a friendship for Damon, and a morbid desire after tlio melan- 
cholv Dane. But he was disenchanted of this illusory ambition by 
friends who knew liis sedate and studious mind, to which an 
academic course and the little volume on pliysics, which provoked 
his curiosity, gave a useful and permanent bent. Then came, all 
roseate and radiant, the blossom of that magnificent fruitage which 
was the promise of a life rounded and full of cautious experiments 
and philosophic deduction. 

What of fiincy he liad, he restrained by patience in details and 
thoroughness in work. Glittering generalizatiim he avoided, as he 
did controversy. His plan of education for others was that which 
he applied to himself. He l)egan with the concrete. If indeed 
Lockyer has found Nature's inner secret, it is by his two tiiousand 
photographs and one hundred thousand observations. If Draper 
successfullv controverts, it will be done by like patience aud labor 
in ditails. If Henry succeeded in his graud inquisition, it was 
by similar detailed labors. While measuring and weighing the 
forces of nature he cautiously deduced his theory. He gathered 
tlie efforts of others — Oersted, Araoo, Davy, and Sturgeon — 
in his favorite domain of electro-magnetism, and made a sheaf 



68 M E BI O 11 1 A L A D D 11 K S S E S . 



wliicli stodil ahovc tlu'in all. He forged the viewless vinculum in 
the eliain of causes, which liouiid tJie universe of matter and mind 
in intelligent unity and linked the soul close to the great white 
throne ! 

Yet he was in his most special sphere a pioneer who blazed his 
way through the forest. He was more than the Baptist of a new 
dispensation of science. He was both herald and hero of our age 
of electro-magnetic wonders. 

In speaking of Professor MoRSE in 1872 in this Hall, I under- 
took to distinguish between those who found principles and those 
who adapt them to practical ends. I said : " Your Newtons and 
Laplaces in the celestial mechanism, and your Aragos, Amperes, 
and Henrys in electro-magnetism, are not the ttniporary but the 
eternal heroes; but the lesser intellect carries off the chaplet and 
sometimes the lucre." I then gave a history of the electric magnet 
from its beginning down to Professor Henry's discovery ; and I 
asserted what I was jiroud to say during his life, and what all now 
confess — that Morse was but the inventor of a machine, Henry 
the philosophic discoverer of the principle ! Others had discovered 
the relations between magnetism and electricity; and others had 
made divers limited applications of the magnet, but the inventor 
of only one form of application carried off the reward. 

It may seem to some a little thing to ring a bell at one end of a 
mile-wire by a current incited at the other end. It may seem to 
some a little thing to discover the induction of currents, as Henry 
did; or to call in a relay magnet at a distance to help the lialting 
power; or to produce the spark by means of purely magnetic 
induction. It seemed doubtless to many a foolish thing to talk to 
members of his family across the Princeton campus by an cltH'tric 
wire, or bv a pole from basement to attic in the college have his 
negro boy play a real fiddle in the cellar whose time was repeated 
in a mock fiddle in the garret. But these experiments were the 



PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENUY. 59 



gradations to a liiglicr plane, wliere tlie genius of liis seience was 
consummate. 

Before he began his researches sonietliing was known of the 
electro-magnet. But it was as feeble in its energy as the child 
wlio toyed M'ith it. It was little besides soft iron. " Henry 
energized it so as to make its results stupendous and tar-reacliing. 
Instead of the insulated bar surrounded l)y an uninsulated coil, he 
insulated the wire. He employed many coils and begot the ton- 
lifting magnet; and lo! there follows in time the telcgrapii and 
telephone. This is accomplished simply by the arrangement of tlie 
acid and zinc in one way, in his way. He adds to the cells of the 
battery; and there is literally no limit in distance for the effect. 
When he found that the power of the battery must be as the length 
of the conductor, he so intensifies the iron at such a distance that it 
gives enchantment to this modern Merlin's magic wand of wire. 
It was not mere by-play when he made a mechanical motor out of 
his big magnet, nor in overcoming resistance hitherto insurmount- 
able, for distance is resistance. It was not a sportive thing to lift 
a ton by his magnet; nor was it an inconsequential freak when he 
severed a cui-rent and thus dropped heavy weights at a distance. 
Such experiments made the lightning liis familiar, his demon, liis 
servitor. He lured it into his lecture-room from out of its clouded 
home in the thunder-storm. He tamed it so that he could bridle, 
mount, ride, curb, and spur it at will. Thus he planted the germ 
of a system which now numbers 492,913 miles of intelligent wire, 
and traverses all climates and dips under all seas. 

He stood upon his vantage-ground not only to signal the world 
by lightning, liut to measure time, calculate longitudes, follow the 
flight of the cannon-ball, and record the stellar motions and transits. 
It is a remarkable fact that only one improvement in the magnetic 
system of telegraph has been made since Professor Henry gave it 
to us. It now transmits more than one message at a time. But 



CO MEMORIAL ADDHESSKS. 



wlien I'rofc'.s.sor Hk.nkv made it plioiictie, it so remained. The 
alphabetic syiuljols are obsolete. Thedi^itaiit iiiay;net when exeited 
makes its dots and clicks its audible language, just as Henuy 
designed. Blot out MonsE and his machine, and Professor Henry's 
instrument, the telegraph, would go on. Like Stephenson's 
multi-tubular boiler, it remains amid all change; for it is perfect 
because it has a jjrinciple. Discard Professor IIenuy's plan, and 
no message is possible with snuiid. All the signals, alarms, and 
devices for distant intelligence have their fountain in Professor 
Henry's brain. Given his brain, and you have Morse, Bell, 
Edison, and the entire circle of electric invcntoi-s. 

What a grand occasion was that at the Centennial, when Sir 
Willi A>t Tiiompsox and Professor Henry met about the tele- 
phone! ^\'llat fruition of hope ! How jocund the exliuberant 
heart leaped up to see fresh evidences of the truth of his early 
experiments under the rigid laws of science! 

These laws however never shadowc 1 his devotion to the beauti- 
ful, good, and true. His modest methods of research, while they 
extended his knowledge and enlarged his reason, never disturbed his 
faith. While like the magnetic needle it ever pointed in one direc- 
tion, it was never trennilous with skepticism. He who knew so 
much of earth, and believetl so much of Heaven, had a faith which 
was larger than his reason. When he said to his students: "We 
explain a fact, when we refer it to a law" — did he stop there? He 
bowed reverently, as he added — "When we explain a law, we refer 
it to the will of God." He never allowed sense to obscure spirit or 
secondary causes to be primal ! He spoke no spell and taught no 
creed for evil or chance. He had tlic eve of reason to sruide his 
radiant path and the ear of faith to inspire and exalt his reason. 
The impetuosity tif the one was tempere<l by the docility of the 
other. The dilettante, the mystic, the i)antheist, and the transcend- 
entalist were to him less than Hippaney and vanity; for he knew 



morEssoR josErn henky. G1 

the limits of all human philosophy, physical, mental, and ethical, 
and never leaped the flaming bounds to raise issues on insoluble 
problems or dispute the divine mission of Him who s])ake as 
never man spake. "That which we know is little, hut that 
wliich we know not, is immense," exclaimed Laplace; and the 
humility of Professor Henry found in his highest aspiration 
reason for the lowliest modesty. He took shelter in the heal- 
ing balm of evening from the dazzling radiance of speculation, 
and in its sweet and inviting undertones found whisjicrings of 
infinite love. 

During his long life and its closing hours he clung to the Rock 
of Ages as the foundation of all his knowledge and the source of 
all his comfort. For him there was no gauge of prayer; for praj'er, 
as he said, was above and beyond science. There was for jiim no 
greater light to shine on the daily path of life than that Sun of 
Righteousness whose reflection was but the faint illumination in our 
flnite mind. 

We have written testimony but a few weeks before his deatli to 
his exalted faith in our religion. Amidst a universe of change, 
where nothing remained the same from one moment to another, 
and where each moment of recorded time had its sejiarate liistory, 
and while a universe of wonders is presented to us in our rapid 
flight through space, he held to the steadfast truth that after all our 
attemj)ts to grapple witli the problem of the universe, the sim])lest 
conception which expands and connects the phenomena of nature is 
that of tiie existence of one spiritual Being, infinite in wisdom, in 
power, and all divine perfections, which exists always and every- 
Mhere, which has created us with intellectual faculties in some 
degree to comprehend his operations as tliey are <levclop('d in 
nature. This was his divine creed of creeds ! It was reconciled 
with science. He believed that this Infinite Beiny; Mas unclianse- 
able and that therefore his operations were in accordance with 

8 



C2 jr I^, M O K I A L A I) D K 13 S S 1", S . 



the uniform laws. Finding even'where evidences of intellectual 
arraugonients as he found tliem in the operations of man, he inferrrd 
that these two classes of phenomena were llic results of similar 
intelligence He found witliiu Jiiiiisclf ideas of right and wrong, 
and deduced and helicved that tluT formed the basis of our ideas 
of the moral universe. In other words, he believed in a Divine 
Being as the director and governor of all, and lived as he died, 
hoping and jiraying for His infinite mercy. 

Aloof from the lights and shadows of hope and fear, wliat unini- 
agined and "wondrous glory beyond all glory ever seen" is Jiis 
to-day! Flowers and fishes, ruins and rivers, skeletons and scoria-, 
all the forms of tilings and forces of nature; the motions of wind, 
tide, and water; the elasticity of steam and the explosions of 
electricity, whicii ^vcrc Iicre in unrest, seeking immobility by laws 
of their own — all tlicse mohiJe elements, wliich he demonstrated 
were seeking repose even in slag or cinders and seeking it by celes- 
tial motions and forces — these are all one to him now ! The corre- 
lation of forces and the conservation of energy arc solved. The 
principle of chemistry and vitality, of the moving atom and the 
immortal mind, no longer vex him with tlu'ir mystery. His soul, 
wiiich was never tried on earth by the crucible, and his religion, 
which wa.s never limited to the laboratory — whose relict radiance 
it is ours to recall — has that rest which he observed to be the final 
law of all animate nature here. 

He believed with Oeksted that the practice of science was 
religions worship; and like that Danish physicist — like Faraday 
and Boyle — "sweetness and light were blended in his pure 
nature." With unblemished eye, like the eagle, liis scientific ken 
gazed into the sun itself for its revelation; and yet he nestled, 
dove-like, amidst his liuinau domestic ail(_'ctioiis. His processes of 
thought were chasfened by his Christ-like life anil iicavcnly faith: 
and he has his reward in eternal bliss. 



p R o F i; s .s o 11 J o s E p n n e n i; y . C3 

When the first telegraph message went from tliis capital on the 
24tli of May, 1844, "What hath God wrought," it but eclioed tlio 
thouglit of this reverent thinker, wlio liad discovered its mission, 
and who thus recognized the infinite intelligence whose processes 
were beyond human ken. This belief chastened his intellectual 
dignitv, and while it gave him added courage to explore the secrets 
of time and space, made his science not that of the carping critic, 
but of the loving handmaiden of divinity. 

If "we are of a nobler sul)stanee than the stars;" if "we have 
faculties while they have none," it is impossible, in thinking of 
Joseph Hexky and his life here, to unduly magnify that intel- 
lectual orb which, when it left our limited horizon, arose upon 
another world to glorify anew the God of all the graces and the 
fountain of all the forces ! 



(ii:()llGE 8. IIOUSTOX. 



Januaky 6, 1880. 



Mr. Si'i'.AKKi; : ()iic oCtlic fon)]iciisatiiiiis (iir dt'iitli is (lir belief 
that wlicii it (■(iiius tlic errors of" our life will he Ixiried witii tlie 
niortiil lHiiiy,;in(l (he eeeeiitricities of our liuiiiaii nature lie niiiiiileil 
into a shiiiiiiL!' orhit of ejiarity. A\'hci wouhl sjieak of the dead 
save in the ]>hra.ses of loving kindness".' ivarely have 1 felt tiiata 
word of mine in tiieir eulogy could do ade(juate justice to the merits 
of deceased friends. But when manly men like Stephen A.D(jnglas, 
Michael C. Kerr, and ( iiooucii-: S. Houston lidl here in the sphere 
of duty, and when their characters present so iniieli to praise, I have 
overcome m\- relnetanee and entered ii])nn the tlu'eshoM of the un- 
seen world with the unreserve of enthusiasm. 

If excuse were needed for taking j)art in this eei-emony, is it not 
enough that 1 knew f iovernor Houston during a ]iai't of his early 
service here more than a score of years ago? J knew him, to re- 
spect his talents and love his character. His kindness to yoiuig 
members was remarke<l iiy my colleague, and this is why my recol- 
lection of him is embalmed so sweetly now. Indeed, as early as 
the Thirty-fourth Congress, in IS'j-i, I had remarked him towering 
as a conspicuous liLiure in vonder old llall, cdnimanding tlie attt'ii- 
tion and consununating the work of this House. In tlu' Thirty- 
liftli and 'I'lili'l v->i\th ( 'imgresses we sat togctliei' n]ion this sidi' of 
(it 



G E O R f ; B s . n O U S T O N . 05 

the Cliamlier. Here liis practical mind and generous qualities gave 
him pre-eminence. He was prominent in debate, not merely he- 
cause of his readiness and fullness in details ami iiis knowledge of 
parliamentary methods, but for iiis large views and patriotic senti- 
ments. 

That he was thus accoutcred for duty was owing to his great ex- 
perience in pulilic affairs, liis influence among men, his courageous 
and charitable opinions of his fellows, and liis ready familiarity 
with the structure and essence of our Government and its compli- 
cated and refined polity. Tliis experience was gained by close atten- 
tion to his duties in every province where he was called, and to 
tlie maturity and reliability of his judgment, and to his proplietic 
insight into the needs of his Conunonwealth and the ciumtry. 
' Forty years ago he lifted his voice here for frugality and honesty. 
As chairman of the Ways and Means he allowed no prodigality to 
give meretricious splendor to the Federal system. To him squan- 
dering was almost crime. I never recall his services in those Con- 
gresses before the war that I ilo not associate with him two other 
statesmen, George W. Jones, of Tennessee, and John Lett'lier, of 
Virginia, whose aims and efforts should be forever a living pattern. 

His first elaborate effort in the Twenty-seventh Congress was for 
the restraint of legislation here witiiin tlie narrowest limits and 
against implied powers. He would leave all legislation to the 
States "over subjects M'here the}' could as amply and beneficially 
legislate as Congress." This was the key-note of all his service. 
As early as 1842 he ably contested the power of Congress over 
elections, holding tiiem to be aloof from Federal supervision. He 
was not only a strict economist, but jealous and denunciatory of the 
Senate on money bills. That body, he thought, should defer to the 
House, the immediate representatives of tiie people, but if they did 
not, he was for appealing to the ])eople. 

He was a bold denouncer of tariff' tyranny, as his speech in 
1>0Sa .") 



(](', MEMOlMAr. ADniJKSSES. 

1844 sliows. His wisdom as to tin' iiulili<' lands was dt'tcii (•viiicc'<l 
ill liic carlv pcriiid of his service, for lit' litid our lands to lie a Iriist 
fur tlic ])e(]jil(', and imt for speculative greed. 

During tliese years, Texas annexation and the Oregon boundary 
were leading tliemes. I need not say upon which side this cour- 
ageous statesman stood. His Oregon speech, and indeed all of ids 
elaborate speeelies, are remarkable for exhaustive i-esearch, i)erspi- 
cuitv, defiance, and patriotism. J'crliaiis the best cicnunt of his 
character was liis fearles.sness and self-abnegation. In a s])ci(h 
against the general internal imj)rovenient .system, on the 2<)th of 
May, 184C, he avowed his opposition to the appropriation for his 
own Tennessee River, and especially when associated with streams 
less consefpicntial. Though the I'ivcr ran lictween States and 
through States — navigable but for obstructions for eight hundred 
miles, washing seven of the leading agricultural and jilanting States, 
and a link between the Atlantic, the "West, and the Gulf— still he 
would not countenance the system which took unequally fi-oni one 
portion of the country to give to another. He would have eijual ex- 
actions and (Mjual favors or nunc. He thus defied the wi.shes of his 
people, exclaiming: " I value too highly the little character 1 have 
earned in the public service to forfeit it for dflu'e or by corrupt 
bargains.'" 

This indc]icndcnce was rewarded, fur his constituents saw in it 
the liest tvjie of a trustworthy representative. 

Whether in scrutinizing the expenses of onr .Vrinyaml rc<|uiring 
accDuntability for the lea.st item, or arguing against subsidies to the 
Collins steamers as fraught with partiality and unjust to fair and free 
trade; whether defending the privileges of the House or vindicating 
the supremacy of the treaty-making power, he brought to tlie debate 
pithy sentences and linked logic, now and then relieved by flashes 
of fucetiiv and all sidiordinat( d tn a sense of honor, jn-tice, and 
jiatriotism. 



G E R G E « . n O U S T O N . 07 

When, on the 16th of February, 185.3, liis Committee of Ways 
and Means and that C'one;ress were critieised as not hciiin' cunipar- 
ahle to earlier conmiittees and C'ongi'esses, he di/fendrd tlicir as- 
siduity and economy, and, rising into an eloquent panejiyric of the 
great and good men who once adorned the House, and referring to 
the mutations which time liad wrought, he softened acrimony into 
praise by saying : 

Truly, Mr. C'liairmau, cUuiii^i's have taken plm-e. la that tlie jjeiitleiuan 
and myself are perfectly aj;ree(l. Bnt, .sir, chanses are inevitable, and it is 
not for ns to eouiplain of the deeree.i of fate or of evils over which we have 
no control. AVe nuist make the best wc can of onr present condition, while 
onr hopes, onr aspirations, and onr efforts shonld ho directed to the ame- 
lioration of the ills that surround us and the renn>val of the obstacles that 
lie in the way of onr n.sefnluess. Such is the teaching of philcsophy, such 
the dictate of justice. 

The clianges which he then described have l)een nion.' re- 
markable since. Death has been bu.sy with tho.se who belonged 
to that Thirty-fifth Congress in which we first met. Their roll is 
lessening year by year. It was the first Congress in which I 
served. The old Ilall and its members, by some natural law 
of memory, rise before mc with photographic vividness and with 
more dramatic interest than even later Congresses, in tliis new 
Chamber. It was during that Congre.ss, on the 17th of December, 
lcSr)7, that we migrated to this Hall. I recall the solemn ])rayer 
of our Chaplain, llev. Mr. Caruthers, "that it should be made a 
temple of honor, ])atriotism, and purity." That scene is the more 
graphically pictured iu memory, us upon that day it was my fortune, 
good or ill, to make the first speech in this Hall. In that spec- 
tacle no form stands out iu liolder relief than that of GKORfiE S. 
Houston. How changed, all; and what rhanges — both in the 
personnel at the House, the subjects discussed, an<l tlic fierce jmssions 
whieh then raged here as the premonition of other eouHicts ! Ah, 
sir, our present politics arc but a summer's sea, calm and serene ; 
then it was a frenzied tumult. The wild passions of that time 



fiS MKMOUIAL ADDRESSES. 



developed tlic pooiiliar charaeteristios of every member. Not more 
distinct miuI iii(li\i(lu;il were they tliaii tlic trees of tlie forest ; and 
in no one unioni:: tlieni is tliere liuuid so lit an eniKleni of tin; 
tough fil)er and <inarlt(l nature of (iKoHGK S. Hoi'STox as in flie 
oak. 

Wiiat a galaxy of varied and lustrous attributes shone in that 
assemblage: the Washbnrnes, Banks, Thayer, Bishop; General 
Sickles, .John Kelly, Haskins, Corning, and Spinner, of New- 
York; E. Joy Morris ; Bocock, Governor Sinitii, and Faulkner, 
of A'^irginia ; Sherman, (iiddings, Bingham, and (irocsbeck, of 
Ohio ; Wliiteley, Humphrey Marshall, Samuel S. Marshall, Farns- 
worth, and Maynard of Tennessee; Niblack, English, and Col- 
fax, of Indiana; Craig, Clark, and Phelps, of Missouri ; and l^ane, 
of Oregon. These survive and have filled honorable stations, 
while such men as Mr. Sjjcaker Orr, Curtis, of Iowa, Quitman, 
Florence, Hickman, Owen Jones, Glancy Jones, Covode, Mont- 
gomery, Lciter, Tompkins, Miller, Stanton, Stewart, Henry Win- 
ter Davis, John G. Davis, Harlan, Bowie, Millson, Bnrliugame, 
Nicholls, Caskie, Gilnjer, Stalwoi'th, Shorter, Eustis, Burnett, Clay, 
Hughes, Petit, Lovejoy, Harris, Caruthers, Hawkins, Ready, 
Goode, Hopkins, Burton Craig, McQueen, Seward, Dowdell, 
Elliott, Peyton, Underwood, Jcwett, "Warren, and other stars, dif- 
fering in glory, but now shining in other spheres ! But why, sir, 
extend this roll of death? One-half of tliat Congress have 
crossed the silent river to the viewless realm. Tiie great issues 
they deliatcd are settled by the stern wager of battle, and their 
contentions ended in that " other country beyond the sun." 

Five beside myself remain to illustrate the vicissitudes of po- 
litical and mortal life; the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Ste- 
phens], from Mississippi [Mr. Singleton], from Texas [Mr. 
Reagan], from Tennessee [Mr. Atkins], and from North Caro- 
lina [Mr. Scales]. A few have been transferred t<> the other 



G E O IJ G E S . n ( > U S T O N . 09 



branch of Congress: Senators Lamar, Pendleton, Morrill, and 
Dawes. Some fell bravely in the fierce encounter to vindicate 
tlieir tiidunlit : Branch, Barksdale, Kcitt, Jenkins, Zollicoffer, 
Moore, Kutlin, Garnett, Shaw, and otiiers ; while of those M'ho 
fought them, Curtis, Cockerill, Blair, and others survived the war 
only to die where affection administered its last offices. The ver- 
nal season M'iiicli is bathing tiie land in sunlight, and making the 
melody of Itirds in the woods, which is warming into new life 
the beauty of the flower and the splendor of the grass, is weaving 
its garlands over hillocks where their remains repose. It teaches 
by its analogy the resurrection and the life of our human bodies. 
It scatters its flood of floral promise, and bends its iris of hope 
over the living and the dead, dyed in all the hues of a sunlit 
heaven, as tiie covenant of God witli man, of our inuuortality. 
Amid these ciiauges, I cannot refrain from reflecting that I am 
left alone here as the surviving member of that Thirty-fifth Con- 
gress from tlie North, while from the South there remain but the 
five I have named of that splendid group who challenged the ad- 
miratiini of tiieir opponents i)y tiie gifts of elocpience with which 
they champiiiued and adorned their cause. 

Of this number George S. Houston, while he was one of the 
leaders, if not the leader, of legislation, was not one of that gal- 
axy of orators who " graced the noble fervor of the hour " by 
urging the disparting of our States. 

If Southern association could have made George S. Houston 
a devotee of the peculiar tenets which f'oiuid tlieir final issue in 
force, he would have been such a devotee. Born in the State of 
Tennessee, so prolific of statesmen of heroic mold and civic (piali- 
ties, deriving his early lineage from Ireland, and on his mother's 
side iiis lineage fmm South Carolina, educated for tlic law in the 
State of Kentucky, he sniigiit tiie fresli and attractive field of Ala- 
l)ama in the morning of his career. After honoring his i)rofession 



70 M K M () U I A I. A I) 1) K K S S K S . 

in otfices wliuiviii lii.s legal abilities were displayed, witliiii a (U(^- 
ade atter Iiis removal to Alabama he was elected to the Federal 
Congress. He served ins State here IVom is 11 tci IMIT, wlun he 
retired t<i rcsuiiu' liis profession. The stirring events of 1850— '51, 
growing out of perilous sectional questions, again ciUled him to 
the front. Here he i-emained as tli:' faithful trustee of his people 
until his State seceded. 

He retired with sorrowful heart and biimmin<r eve to his 
home, for he saw with the prescience of a .statesman the terrible 
eventualities of the eouHict which he always deprecated. 

While the red storm of war raged around his home, he re- 
mained, like many other men equally chivalric, a sad spectator in 
the conflicts of force. 

When the war ended, and failing then to secure iu l.SO.j and 
1866 a seat in the Senate to which he was elected, his people, in 
1874, sought for him, their first citizen, as tiie head of the State. 
He was made their governor, and began the work of building up 
the w;irfte places which the desi>lation of war had made. He made 
a highway for the pcoj)le; and, lifting his voice above the I'uiu 
and distress armnid him, he begaii the work of ciiu<trueti<in with 

that sagacious adaptation of means to end whi<'h is the distinguish- 
ing feature of genuine statesmanship. 

In seeking for the pivotal characteristic of this rcj)reseutative 
man, it is to the honor of his nature that it is not found in the 
desire to destroy. There is in every liuniau heart some controll- 
ing thiiught — the end-all ami be-all of exertion. It is that mys- 
terious and niiigic ia-<i)iration which exalts the daily work of 
life into a daily beauty. It evokes out the unreal, reality. It is 
the aura which sustains the intellectual and moral nature, giving 
it stamina and energy, a.s the atmosphere sustains our physical ex- 
istence. It directs the aindess and erratic meanderings of the 
mind into fruitful, smooth, and healthful currents. It creates the 



GKORGE S. HOUSTON. 71 

Idftier litr, niiil in dcatli it inspires loviiit;- liaiids to weave cliaiylots 
for the t(iiiil) <il' till' (l<'|iai'tccl. 

Tlie 2:ei)ius 111' tills statesman's lite is limnd as well in liis reti- 
cence ami retiraev, when tli<' lia\-(ie dl' war menai'ed and riiini'd his 
State, as ill the vit;'or with wliieh, when that havoi' was over and 
its ih'/iris lav armind him in nrderless despair, he renidv-ed the 
chaiTed tVaniewiirk and het^aii tii rejilace it with hajipv liumes and 
^oiid rule fur a enntented pi'uple. 'I'n him mori: than tn anv other 
man in Alaliama tliat State nwes its re>urreeti(jn. IFe i-olled away 
the stune t'nim its sepuleher, and, like th<' t;ui,d aniicl, i;uarded its 
door. ^Vmidst all the perils of snrl' and snidcen nick the warning 
voiee of ri(ivern<ir HorsTox IkkI Ix're spcik'en jieaee and good- 
will f'oi' thi' tran((uillity of the whole lan<l and its inch'struetihle 
unity. It had spoken in vain. His State was lanneheil on the 
tide of war. She enlisted one liundi-ed and twenty-two thousand 
ol' her sous in the ( 'oufederate army ; one-fourtli of them fc^ll fight-, 
ing for tlio southern cause. Everywhere, in tielil and village, city 
and country, there was devastation. Even aftei' the war, misgov- 
ernnient and mala<huiuistratiou addc<l their cruelties and hui'dens 
to the desolating effects of the war. lint these, which were dis- 
eouragenients for otiiers, were to him incentive and amliition. 
His genious for rehuilding uprose with the dire emergency. It is 
said of Alaliama, after it was travei'sed liy the S[)auish army 
und<'r De Soto, more than three centuries ago, seeking for gold 
and in the search drenching it in blood, ''that the dark curtain 
that had covered her territory w'as suddenly lifted, a lirilliant liut 
bloodv panorama jiassed across the stage, and then all was 
shroudi/d in primeval darkness." This clihiri} oftenrt) ot thi' his- 
toi-ie liemlirandt lint faintly portrays the dark shado^^■s which 
rested njion the Alabama of 18G-j-'G(i. liut the picture did not 
appal the stanch heart of Geokge S. IIoi'stox. He manfully 
began to wash out the stains of blood ; he desired to " scatter 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES. 



plenty o'er a smilini:; land "; he pleaded for recoiiciliatidii, and Ijy 
his efforts and under liis magie the .spears of j^raiii l)urst into gold 
and tiie cotton-iJiid into snow. Wiulc hy his wi.sc policy he ele- 
vated tlie credit III' his Slate and .saved it from insolvency and 
debt, he heli)ed to open iii.s wonderfid State and its opulent re- 
sources of mine and plantation to the ligiit, which has since given 
to its people encouragement, good government, and renewed prcs- 
perity. 

The magic liy wliicii lie coutrolled affairs was not altogether his 
knowledge and experience. His nature was not devoid of ready 
sympathies, and even poetic sentiment, thougli he seldom revealed 
him.self in this relation. J3ut it could not be otherwise with one 
nerved by (he jiure air and pleasant siui of Ahibania. He repre- 
sented no dreamy .sentimentality and no iin]iraetical abstractions; 
for that portion of Alabama to which he was accustomed has not 
the soft local coloring like that which interpenetrates the magnolia- 
ladeu air on the margin of the Mexican sea. There the breath, 
shine, and llora of spring glorify cvi'ii the midwinter. Living 
within tlie crescent wlii<'li the majestic Tennessee makes as it bends 
through the uj)per region of Alabama, his mind took from its scen- 
ery something of that rugged ca.st which the .s((ft allurements of the 
farther South did not mitigate or temper. There runs through his 
life, like the ridge of iron through the heart of his State, virile vir- 
tues of unbending and inexorable honesty. But with ail this he 
w^as pervious to the influences of sentiment, and his lite Wius free 
from the vices and stains of passion. The moinitains and .streams 
of his State — the early adventures arising out of Spanish, French, 
American, and Indian conflicts ; the romantic legends of his State, 
woven into a wib of witeiiery l)y the indigenous poetry of the 
South — its jireliistorie mounds and historic memories; its constel- 
lation of honored names, such as the Kings, Lipscouibs, Gaine.ses, 
Toulmins, McKinkys, Moores, Cral)l)s, J^ewises, Cleraeu.ses, Yan- 



G E () R G E S . nous T ON. 73 



ceys, Bibbs, Pickenses, Fitzpatricks, Can-oils, Clays, Elinons, For- 
sytiis, Walkers, Hillianls, Pnghs, Siiortcrs, and (Jurrys in the 
State, an<l tlie Evanses, Baklwins, Meaks, ami Hodgsons in the re- 
jMililic of letters, honoi-ed as well in otlier States as In Alal)aina — 
these were a part of his local pride and literary amenity. 

My honored friend [^Ir. Forney] has drawn a ]iictnre of the 
landscape aroinid his liome, and adorned it liy a stanza from one of 
the cantos of a favorite sonthern poem <lescriptive of tlic l)eantiful 
valley of the Tennessee. It was inipussilih' with sn<'h eminliling 
examples of superior men, and witli sm-h a physical siirroundiiitr, 
with its jeweled islands set in flowinti' waters, and with its monnt- 
aiiis like giant sentinels 

Til guard its pictured v:ilk\v's rest, 

that the imagination even of one so practical in the daily I'ontine of 
professional and legislative life should nut liave partaken something 
of tiie quality of this splendid land, and of the attributes of its 
noble men. 

Mr. Speaker, Uww is no sweeter word in any tongue (iian Ala- 
bama! Most musical in its tone, it echoes its legendary meaning. 
Among the many fanciful stories connected witii this State of legends 
is that whicii is engraved upon its escutcheon above us. It is said 
that a tribe of Indians, flying from their enemies, reached a splendid 
river. There a chit'f struck his wea[ion into the soil, exclaiming, 
"Alabama!" "Here wc rest." Who is there so practical that he 
would depoetize this incident l)y (piestioning its authenticity ? The 
very sky and .scenery of Alabama, with its dreamy loveliness, seem 
to give it reality. "Here we rest!" Ah, sir, he who did so much 
to assuage the unrest which thc> passions and ambition of men 
created ; In.' \\h(i ac'complishcd so much ami so magically by his 
word and work, has now found within its bosom that rest which 
liis busy life did not bestow. He wiio lived no cloLstered life, 



74 MEMOEIAL ADDRESSES. 

whose active tlmiii^lits and imlilcini^licil fame uaN'e tlieir sweet el- 
fliieiiee ti> <;iiaril and restiire tlie lumies cil' Ids State, measured the 
eii-ele III' Ids (i\\ n I'elieitx' in cdut I'd lUl ini^' t( i t hat ol' his people. The 
niiii'iniir nl' tlie rivers wldeh i\nw thnmoli his beloved Ahdiama, 
aiul tlie lai)se of the Mavcs which fall upon its southern shores, 
break in melaiieholy eadcnccs to sin<r and sifrli Ids rc(|niein, and lift 
tlieii' voices in |iraise of Idm, who after doini;- so nnicli,at lasts rests 
from Ids lalioi's amitlst the svinjialhy and sorrow of his liereaved 
countrymen. Every home and heart from the stately Tennessee to 
the beautiful Mobile Bay contributes to 

.Slird ii beauty round liis name — 
A li^lit that lilie a star will hi-aiii, 

Jjustrons aud larj^o— a ^oldi'ii glory 
Ailowu tlic Future's glidiu;; slii;aui, 

To gild liis country's niorniu'' stiu-y ! 




'7/^ 7/^//' 



/ /'y//^/ ////// 



BENJAMIN II. HILL. 



January 26, 1883. 



Mr. Speaker: When a great French leader of opinion died the 
other day, it was queried whctlier Freneli institiition.s would sur- 
vive. " The republic is Leon Gandjetta," was the sententious 
phrase. Wherever the signs of sorrow were displayed over the 
death of the great Frenchman, from San Francisco to Syria, tlie 
p(jwcrful tribune of the people, the vehement orator, the energetic 
patriot was mourned as if France herself were lost. The very floral 
offerings were shaped into the tricolor of France. Not so in other 
lands. Disraeli dies, and though his party goes on, .sadly lacking 
his genius, the English Government in form and structure receives 
no detriment. I saw nobles of ancient lineage and peasants of the 
country he had so long represented follow his remains to its sopul- 
cher. All that was mortal of the dead Hebrew and l)rilliaut 
minister received the last rites of the established churcii, but the 
Euirlish constitution and Eno-lish societv received no slux^k. 

So, too, in these cisatlantic republican commonwealths — states- 
men and Presidents come and go like i-ainbows, Ijut the state sur- 
vives. It is more jiermancnt because of the monumental service 
of the departed statesman it has nourished. 

The eloquent Georgian and Senator whom we honor to-day 
rounded an active life of rarest mold. No glamour of the sol- 

(75) 



76 M E M O B I A L A D I) U E S S ]■: S . 



(lier was Iiis. He was the peerless citizen wlio led men l)y voice, 

and tlimiglit in jierilons tinies, tiir<iun|i tnnililcs .■ind t\ rannies, 
with a foresig'iit and wis(hini all tmi rai'c in this land of mercenary 
grasping and iinreiaxiiig excitement, lie dies ; bnt his State and 
tiie nation grow Ix'tter hy the emphasis of ids lift' and flic virtne 
of its lessons. 

It was my privilege to know Senator IIii.i,, even In'l'ore he l)e- 
eaine a mendjer here. It is beeanse of delightfnl, almost intimate 
frieudshi]!, that iiis friends have assigned to me a part in these sad 
obseqnies. 

The dates and e\ents, ilie links connecting sui'h details, which 
make the chain of his personal history and serve to illusti-atc the 
individual feeling and life, the charai-ti r of the man — these others 
have touched with magnetic, loving hand. 

This chain was fashioned as all character is by snrrounding eir- 
eumstanees. Those who knew him in his early days love to trace 
the main elements of his character to Ins parentage. His fatiier 
was of slendei' education, hut of robust virtue. He was remark- 
able for his invincible will and force. His iimllicr was of an 
earnest, gentle nature, full of reflective and religious (pialities. 
These made np the rudiments of that character which enabled him 
to overcome obstacles by endurance and |)alliate them by persua- 
sion. The sturdy oak was garlanded with tendcrest flowers. 
Like a Grecian or Doric fane, to which the gentleiiian fmm A'ir- 
giiiia []Mi\ Tucker] likened it, his character combined beauty with 
strength. 

The old farm-honse and the red hills \\herc he pa.'^sed the scenes 
of his boyhood modified these iidxirn elements of his nature, and 
gave fresh vigor to his healthful life and added grace to his gcu- 
tleuesss. 

In his college experience the development an<l discipline of his 
mind was prodigious. His shyness an<l awkwardness, iiorn of the 



B E N J A 5r I N n . HILL. 



countrv', soon gave way hefore liis energy and ambition. From 
tlic rustic l)oy, in Iiis long jeans coat ami scant trousers, lie at once 
Ix'canie a tlniuglitt'ul student. His lialiit of abstraction began 
tiius early. Wiietlier in the Demosthenian Society, or as its anni- 
versarian orator, or ileliveriug tlie valedictorv of his class, he im- 
]>ressed those who listened witli his uiiccpialed jiower of debate 
and tlic rare fclirity of his eloquence. ( )ne index of the gentle 
side of Ills eliai'aeler may be noted. His theme at the junior com- 
mencement was tlie " Life, Ijovc, and ^Madness of 'Porquat<i 
Tasso," into whieh lie threw all his mother's pdctie seiisiliijitv 
with Ids scholarlv warmth. 

Soon the scholar ripi'iied into the ailvocate. Here was his 
n<'ld. Tie had a legal mind. lie drove the logic of the law 
bravely through every obstacle of fancy and fu't. Ills fluency of 
speech and fertility of expedient, together with his power of appli- 
cation and study, gave him a forensic power whi<'li Lord ( 'oke 
said a good lawyer should liax'c for the "occasion sudden;" a 
])iiw<'r which jiartial li-icnds have compared with that of I'^rskine. 
As a lawyer few men, even in our largest cities, have had such 
success. Although diverted again and again from his jealous 
mistress, the law, to canvass for Congress, legislature, elector, and 
governor, he was still cnipbiyed in all the leading cases of tlie 
State. It is estimated — if such estimates may be quoted here and 
now — that he had made a million dollars, as fees, bv the time he 
was fifty. He was as lavish in the ex[)enditure and as improvi- 
dent in the investment of his earnings as he was indefatigable 
with head and voice in their accnniulation. 

There is anotlier phase of his life which gave its impress to the 
scholar, the citizen, the orator, the advocate, the statesman, and 
the man. It is the sectional or Southern aspect of his life. 
Without this phase lie would not have made the mark which he 
so indelibly did upon his State. He liad no act of the dema- 



78 MEMOKIAL ADDRESSES. 



gogue, no party tactics at coiiiiiiaml, im sturicil lore racv (if tlie 
soil sndi as niailc the "Georgia Scenes" so wliim.sical and linnmr- 
ous, and little ur no eniivcrsalidnal lo(|naeity ; l)iit lie liad tlic re- 
serve MJiieli carries the battle, and thus armed lie wa.s dauntless. 

Yet there seems to be an unevenness and inconsistency in liis 
career and cliaracter. This unevenness may have licen the result 
of the vicissitudes cii'tlie eventful times wlicn the liest of men were 
distracted as to duly. Inconsistency? Gladstone, the vouiig 
Tory, becomes the veneral)le Tiilieral, and Palmerston laughed at 
the vanity of consistency. 

Call it what you will, State pritle or local afrectiou, and sav it 
is irreconcilable with a larger htve of country, yet is it not the 
same patriotic impulse which made Tell love the mountains of 
Switzerland, and M'ebster the roclv-l)ound shores of New Eng- 
land ? Besides, is it necessary to reconcile the love cue bears the 
mother with that one bears the wife? When one is true to his 
liridal troth is he less true to the mother who bore liim ? 

It was this State pride which led the youth to prefer his own 
State University at Athens for his ediicatioii rather than follow 
the advice of his teacher, who was a graduate of Yale. It was 
the same seritiment which colored his after-life and irave irlow and 
glory to his oratory. Even while protesting against secession 
ordinances on the hustings and in convention he followed with no 
laggard step his State into revolt against the Federal domination. 
When the question came home to him whether he wntdd have the 
unity of his Georgian peojjle or the unity of all the States, he 
(;hose, and honestly chose, the unity of his home;. 

Herein lies that seeming nnevemiess and inconsistencv which 
some have observed in his character. I shall rather call it the 
tough fiber of his native robust being, its nature gnarled bv soil 
and tempest, but none the less beautiful iiecause it luul the har<l 
intertwisted knot of local devotion. 



BENJAMIN H. HILL. 79 



True, he contended for "the Union, tlic Constitution, and tlie en- 
foreement of the laws." He left his lawyer's desk and sont;-lit leg- 
islative honors, to champion constitutional Federal unitv. It was 
because he thought the mother was tlic lovinsr friend of his bride. 

The first test of the young statesman, thirty years ago, was in 
the contest for the compromise of 1850. He desired to signalize 
the end of slavery agitation, which he tiiresaw woidd end in civil 
war and Southern disaster. Hence his entrance upon political life 
in 1S51 as a Union man. 

Throughout his subsequent life, up to the signing of the seces- 
sion ordinance, he was, in its best sense, an ardent Federalist. He 
was of such moderate views and so opposed to the ullraists of his 
State that he traversed Georgia proclaiming fealty to the Union. 
He sounded the tocsin of revolt against the leaders (tf revolution. 
Never was a crisis met so courageously. At a time when Yancey's 
sentences thrilled the South, and M'hen even Howell Cobb was the 
coa<ljuti)r of Senator Ivcrson, the silver voice of BRX.rA^^iiN H. 
IIii.L, joining that of Alexander H. Stejihcns, was a trumpet, not 
of sedition, but of loyalty to the Union. 

In his speeches, full of the fervor of that wild day, and in a 
minority, he was to Southern Unionism what Camltctta was to dis- 
tracted France. l>oth were too late to save, but both lived to re- 
build and restore. 

It is not for me to iutpiire why the late Senator gave his voice 
only for secession and not his arm. Ft was not from lack of cour- 
age, physical, mental, or moral; but he was doulitless <'ontimially 
shadowed by his own prophecy. "Take care," he said, "that in 
eiidea\'oring to carry slavery where natui-e's laws prohihil its en- 
trance you do not lose the right to hold slaves at all! " 

The Senator had no love for the secrecies and ritual of Know- 
nothingism, and when that semi-religious and anti-American cru- 
sade was preached it was condemned by him. But from his con- 



80 MK 51 OUIAL ADDRESSES. 

scrvativc liaMtiidc lir (IcfciKlcd tlic l'"illiiiiir(' ailiniiilstratidii, and 
in 1860 lie became a Bell and Everett Union elector. Georgia 
rang from side to side with liis (dcgant and urgent pliillipics against 
radicalism North and Soiithand hisf'crvent pati'iotisni forthc Union 
ot'onr fathers. 

It is impossible to analv/e a lifi' so lull of incident or a mind so 
well disciplined and an oratory so alert and brilliant, without draw- 
ing upon the language of high encomium. 

All the virtues and genius as well as faults of the man and Sen- 
ator center around the love lie boi-c to his own State of (icoi'gia. 

He was a native of Georgia, and had he lived till now would 

have been three-score years of age. He was born in the center of 

that "old red Ixjlt which encircles the State from the Savannah to 

the Chattahoochee." To borrow the language of a friend in the 

davs of niv first service here, Judge James Jackson: 

IIo was nil a Georgian. Tlio robust pliysiqiie of the ni.in sprang tVom tin' 
soil of our IicIovimI State, anil the giant intellect Avliieli so distiugiiislieil liiiii 
was eipially Georgian. If honey wasHpon his lips, the Georgia liee gathered 
it from Georgia Howeis. If the silver ring of his eloiiuenee touched all hearts, 

the silver was dug out of the re(l did hills we love so nuich. 

Georgia, geologically and picturesquely, inider and above the 
genial soil, has natural advantages and beauties which along with 
her liberal institutions early attracted such adventurous minds as 
the Hebrew Mendez, the English soldier Oglethorpe, and the 
^Icthodist Wesley, l-'ven the mounds are yet pitinted out, in the 
countx' where our Senator was born, into which De Soto delved for 
gold. Her moiuitains dip and curl in crested grandeur toward the 
west, while her savannas add their greenery and wealth to her 
shores. 

General James Oglethorpe, who, as Burke said, had called a jirov- 
ince into existence and lived to see it an independent State, was 
the epitome of (ieorgia history. Oglethorpe's life was so full of 
achievement and variety that it is a romance. Pope eulogiztnl, l>r-. 



e> 



E E N J A :\r I N II . TI I L L . 81 

Johnson admired, and Thompson celeliratcd liim. He was not only 
ready to defend Iiis Iionorin tlie duel, hut was the prisoner's friend 
aiul tlie founder of an "empire State." Sir Robert Montgomery 
called the new colony which tlie pdhmt i;-cneral f(iuiid(>d "the most 
delightful country of the universe." Even the jioet of tlie Seasons, 
Thompson, in his "Liberty," sang of the swarming colonists who 
sought the "gay colony of Georgia." He eulogized it as the calm 
retreat of undeserved distress, the better home of those whom bigots 
cha.sed from foreign lands. It was not built (in rapine, servitude, 
and woe. The very history and literature of England thus iiu- 
bound with this colony is almost unknown to the North. ( )tlier 
States, it seems, attracted more literary attention. 

It was this Georgia, the asylum and hope of man, and fdunded 
in honor, religion, and liravery, that our Senator loved. Even 
John Wesley's mother, when the high cliurch Methodist asked her 
whether he shotdd proceed to Georgia, said : " Had I twenty sons 
I should rejoice if they were all so employed." The very religion 
of Georgia had iu it a courage which does not belong to our time, 
when the voyage across the Atlantic is robbed of most of its 
terror. 

In the center and heart of this histori(t State, and in a county 
which bears the name of the bravest soldier that ever bore a banner 
to victory — Jasper — and^with the heroic and religious associations 
of its founders, young Hill w.as born. At an early age he followed 
his family and its fortunes to the Alabama border, near the Chat- 
tahoochee River. The town of La Grange, to wliicli they removed, 
is the county seat of Troup. It was then, and is yet, noted for its 
love of education and its school facilities. There are many asso- 
ciations in this county, and even connected with its very name, 
which might well attune a young mind to thoughts of ambition in 
the forum of law and politics. Giants were arrayed Georgia in 
those days, and their eiforts, esjiecially about 1S3.'>, when force liills 
208a 



Sli MEMORIAL A 1)1) 1! KSSES. 

and millilicntiiiii were rife, gave iiiipassidiifd tunc as well as high 
teiiijMT to political discussion. 

Doubtless the mind of young Hill took its hue fi-oin those sur- 
roundinsrs; but in a State the verv name of whose counties betoken 
a lufh- division of sentiment — where Washington, Jackson, Jeffer- 
son, Franklin, and Madison speak of the Federal Constitution, and 
Henry, Randoliih, Tioup, and Crawford speak of State sovereignty 
and local liberty; but where, above all, the names of Pulaski, De 
Kalb, Morgan, and Carroll shine like primal virtues, all starry 
with our Rev()luti(jnary radiance, it could not bo otherwise than 
that men of earnest thought should perceive a divided duty, and 
that great controversial acumen and power should enter the arena 
and inspire contentious oratory. 

Doubtless Senator Hill was greatly influenced in his pursuits 
and characteristics by such rare men and events as Georgia lias 
produced. These names may not be as familiar to Northern ears 
now as in the days of Jackson and Calhoun, but they are .still po- 
tential to start a si^irit in Georgia, where State pride has lost but 
little of its i)restige by the result of the civil war. Kead tlie roster 
of Georgia's forum — the brilliant lights of her bench, bar, litera- 
ture, and senate: Bcall, Crawford, Berrien, Mcintosh, Clayton, Col- 
quitt, Cobb, Tripp, Dawson, Forsythe, Lumpkin, Lamar, Jackson, 
Shorter, Rcid, Warner, Johnson, AVilde,and Baldwin, not to speak 
of men who vet survive, like her j)resent wonderful chief magistrate, 
and his contrast in stature and mate in intellect, Robert Toombs. 

A State like this, so grand in its beginning and so splendid in its 

hundred and (ifly years of prosperous history, must be proud of 

its heroes, whether fit — 

For anus and warliko aiucnance, 
Or else for wise and civil goveruance, 
To learn the interdcal of princes strange; 
To mark tlic intent of councils, and tlic change 
Of states. 



BEN.T A3[IN n. 11 I LL. 83 



Her annals are .eliiningwith tlie nanicw of De Soto, Ealcigh, and 
Ogletliorpe ; and the names of tlieir sueecssors under conditions of 
later (lavs detrart nothing from the luster of their worth and 
renown. 

To emulate the fame of Hortcnsius, king of the forum, Cieero 
never ceased his efforts till he ascended the throne of oratory. So 
in tiiis unrivaled galaxy of gifted Georgians. Enudation made 
amliition reach iiigh. From sire to son the names of eminent 
Georgians appear again and again, showing the elevating incentives 
which enlivened and exalted this imperial State of the South. The 
gold in her hills, the silver on the cotton-pod, the sun with its 
halm, the rivers which flow from her mountains, the opulence of 
her soil, are not more Georgian and imperial thiui the high standard 
of those who gave Georgia to the world as a colony, preserved her 
independence of England, brought iier through fire into the federa- 
tion of States, and after the vicissitudes of a great civil trial rescued 
her first among the re<nisant States from the chaos of war. 

The Senator we' meet to honor was no exception to the enuila- 
tion and exaltation i>f his surroundings. His natural ardors and 
amliitions thus receivt'd their stimulus aud.food. But the uiass- 
ive nund which made the great advocate and the moral heroism 
which made the defender of individual and civil liberties — these 
are of no soil ; they belong t(j no time. They illustrate tjie age of 
Aristides and give a glory to the fame of Rienzi. Tliey maile 
Sanniel Adams and Patrick Henry possible, not as provincial men, 
but as enlarged and loving patriots. 

He who would best portray the salient features of Bexja.min 
Harvey Hill must remember that his devotion to Georgia was 
but the stepping-stone to a broader and loftier devotion to that 
Union which he loved to serve in our councils here. 

The peojile of New York City have not yet forgotten the ring- 
ing periods of Senator Hill, in one of her halls, as he discoursed 



84 MEMORIALADDRESSES. 



of tlic iiuigiia cliarta and otlier precious momimonts of popular lib- 
erty. To Ills inip;i.s.sioucd utterance liis line frame and nni.sieal 
voice gave a cliariii beyond tlic reach of art. 

His State love \va.s, sir, afler all, the golden key which unlocked 
the secrets of his grand elocution and ojiencd the casket wlicrcin 
were the jewels of his si)lendid imagery. 

When tlic war had ended, and his State was in the gi-asp of un- 
priuciplcil adventurers and under the litcl of an unljridled satrapy, 
and in the chaos wrought by the war, he g-ave to the reconstruction 
acts iiis defiance, and hurled liis anatliemns against its spoilers. 

In 18(j8 he went among liis people with thestrideof a demi-god. 
He fired their hearts, and thougli surrounded by bayonets and 
threatened by bastiles, he uttered such sarcasm, scorn, and daunt- 
less defiance tliat tlie satraps who outraged every canon of law and 
impulse of liberty shrank from tluir liateful work in tlie very 
midst of a conquered people. 

Since the war ended we know something of liis Federal service 
and career. The gentleman fnun Iowa [Mr. Kassou] ha.s truly 
given us some rare sentences of fidelity to the Union. One sen- 
tence he did not quote, wliicli I well remember: "This is our 
father's house. We have returned to it — to stay!" In hope and 
despair; in and out of his party, in his place of business, in the 
forum of his love, the bar, and outside upon the platfi)rm, the same 
iieroic altitude he illustrated to the end gave him power to combat 
the enemies of local and constitutional liberty. No weakness callcnl 
on him fiir championship that he did not respond. His State was 
lifted ui) out of the reconstruction mire into the life and viu-orof a 
new birth under the impulses of his eloquence. He gave her be;mtv 
for ;ishes. Under his magic wanil a new Atlantis — such as Bacon 
loved to picture — arose above the tide of desolation ; and a ni'w 
Atlanta, with its goblin of steam and its energies, was recreated 
under the rii)s of death. Matchless in his winged words and fear- 



11 E N .1 A 31 I N II . II I LL . 85 



less in his eonsuniinate bravery, he stopped at no post of trust until 
he became the foremost Georgian at this Federal center; and in the 
Hdwrr of his genius he laid down his eventful life with a Christian 
resignation and devotion only next to that of the martyred Poly- 
carp. 

r doubt, Mr. Speaker, if ever man suffered in the flesh as this 
man. It would not be fitting here to describe the details of that 
mortal malady and those surgical agonies tliat raclved iiim so long 
and so terribly. lie perished day by day, hopelessly perishing 
with a pain whicli only his Christian fortitude relieved. Out of 
his torture at length came deliverance ; and in the middle of August 
last his courage yielded, but yielded only to death. 

When the great Frenchman Gambetta wa.s agonized by liis dis- 
ease he cried out, " It is useless to dissemlile. I welcome death as a 
relief" This was the end of one of Plutarchian mold ; but it was 
not the end of our beloved American statesman. Amid the tender 
farewells of his wife and family, with a patience sanctified on liigh 
and a faith wliicii "endured as seeing Him who is invisible," this 
more tiian classic liero, this gentle follower of the meek and lowly 
One, sought consolation, courage, and liojte in his faith. His last 
words, as given to his pastor, and repeated I)y my friends from 
Virginia [Mr. Tucker] and from Texas [Mr. Wellborn], were, 
"Almost home." 

It is an illustration of the sympathy and loving kindness which 
make the comforts of home so tender and elocjuent that two gentle- 
men have most touchingly referred to these last words. But to me 
they have a double, almost jjersonal, meaning. 

I remember after the war, with a tenderness all too gentle for 
words, the first greetings I received from this Senator. He was 
pleased that I had aided to defeat, by a speech based on the consti- 
tutional clause as to attainder of treason, the attemjit to take more 
than the life estate, /. e., the fee-simple, which belonged to the in- 



86 M K MORI A 1. A I) 1) U K S S K S. 



nocent children of tlic Soiitli. I luul, Ikj siiid, thoii^lil uI'iIk; I'uture 
homes of the Soiitli. Tliat was oiir fir.st bond of f'rioiidsliii). 

Iliinic! licst iil'all solaces, witlioiil wliosc social benignities ami 
all'ectionate sweetness all tlu' Icarniiii;-, cIihiiicikh', wit, lore, anil re- 
nown of men fade away. Ilis own sweet liomel In tiie midst of 
his own beloved circle, the innnortal spirit looked to that home 
bevond in the mansion not made with hands. Yes! oh, yes! he 
was almost there — his lieavcnly home — where pain im longer tor- 
tnres, where the world has nn temptatimi and the grave no terror, 
where, with the loved ones gone bei'orc and the lovi'd ones to fnllnw, 
he would join in the song of the Lamb forever! 

In conchision: It i-emains for us that we should so li\i' that we 
be neither surprised, nor leave our duties imperfect, nor our sins 
uncanceled, nor our persons nnrei-oncilcd, nor ( icid unapj)eascd ; but 
that when we descend to our graves we may rest in the bosom of 
the Lord till the mansions be pre])ared, where we will sing and 
feast eternally. Amen! Te Deuiii laiuhtnutn. 

This would be the language of our departed friend from his 
home above, as it is the admonition of sweet Jeremy Taylor in his 
"Holv Living and Dying." It comes from bey<ind the toiiil). 

To tlio cloiul he sayetli, Arise! 

Totlio living, Follow Me! 
Ami that voice still souudeth on 
From the lentnries that are gone, 

To the centuries that shall be. 



-Y 



iBA|?g 



